American Airlines Plane Crashes in Midair With Black Hawk Helicopter in Washington, D.C.; Victims Include Members of US Figure Skating Team

An American Airlines plane has crashed in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington D.C.

Per an alert on the airline’s official website as of 10:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 29, “We’re aware of reports that American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, with service from Wichita (ICT) to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been involved in an incident. We will provide information as it becomes available.”

Furthermore, per NBC News, the two aircraft crashed into the Potomac River, which is just outside of the nation’s capital. A search-and-rescue operation is currently underway, officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have confirmed, but there is currently no evidence of criminality or terrorism.

According to the outlet, the helicopter was carrying three people, while the plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members.

“I am following the response to a reported aviation incident at DCA, and am in touch with airport officials as we try to learn more about what happened and why,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who represents the area where the crash occurred, in a statement. “This is obviously very worrying, but I urge the community to please let first responders do their jobs and save lives.”

“A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time,” the FAA confirmed in a statement. “PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas.’”

What We Know About the Helicopter and American Airlines Plane Involved in the Crash

The Department of Defense has confirmed that a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter is, indeed, a so-called Black Hawk. Unlike the Apache helicopters, which are used in warfare and aggressive missions, the Black Hawk is used in tactical transport of troops, medivac evacuations, and “electronic warfare.”

According to CNN, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the Black Hawk was on an annual proficiency training flight. “It was a fairly experienced crew that was doing an annual required night evaluation,” he said, noting that “they did have night vision goggles.”

The Canadian transportation giant Bombardier (previously Canadair) designed and produced the Bombardier CRJ700 series of regional jet aircraft. American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Air Canada all have Bombardiers in their fleet.

Updates

More than 30 dead have been retrieved so far from the Potomac River, where American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military chopper landed after their midair collision.

The plane carried 60 passengers, including several members of the United States Figure Skating team. Russian world figure skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were also reportedly on the flight.

“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.,” the Jan. 30 statement read from U.S. Figure Skating, per PEOPLE. “These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”

Per CNN, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said there are not expected to be any survivors from the accident. “We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” he said in a Thursday morning news conference.