Potomac Crash

Plane crash: What we know after American Airlines plane, Army helicopter crash into Potomac River

U.S. Figure Skating issued a statement confirming that several members, including athletes, coaches, and family members, were onboard the American Airlines jet

You’re watching the NBC 5 Chicago News streaming channel, which plays local Chicago news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can find the “NBC 5 Chicago News” streaming channel on your phone or computer, and on Peacock, Samsung, Roku, Xumo or on our app, so you can watch our local news on your schedule.

Live updates on the crash can be found here.

An American Airlines flight with 60 passengers and four crew members onboard collided Wednesday night with a Army Black Hawk helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, with officials saying rescue efforts have transitioned to recovery ones and "no survivors" are expected.

The flight, operated by PSA Airlines, was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, officials said, and was carrying some members of the U.S. Figure skating community. Three people were onboard the helicopter at the time of the collision, officials said.

In an update Thursday morning, Washington D.C. Fire and EMS chief John Donnelly said responders were shifting from a rescue operation to that of a recovery mission.

"We don't believe there are any survivors" Donnelly said. According to Donnelly, as of Thursday morning, 27 bodies had been recovered from the plane, and one had been recovered from the helicopter.

CNBC reports it is the worst air disaster on U.S. soil in more than 15 years.

President Donald Trump Thursday morning is expected to address the deadly collision. The update will be streamed in the video player above once it begins.

NBC Washington's Doug Kammerer breaks down video of the in-air collision of commercial airplane and a military helicopter.

What caused the collision? 

It remains unclear. In an update Thursday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said both the helicopter and the plane had been traveling in "standard flight patterns," and the chopper and aircraft were both in contact with air traffic controllers.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said during the update they "don't know why the military chopper came into the flight path of the jet," adding that the military helicopter had been advised to go behind the aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair collision occurred around 9 p.m. EST when American Eagle flight 5342 that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter while on approach to an airport runway. The helicopter, carrying three people, was on a training flight, an official told the Associated Press.

A former NTSB investigator who worked on another crash in the area in 1982, said the airspace is highly restricted due to the presence of several monuments.

“It’s very tight airspace,” Alan Diehl told NBC's "Early Today".

“You really have to be on to your game. The pilots and the controllers that fly in and out of there are well trained and well aware of these restrictions," he said.

According to officials, the plane was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional airline that's a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group.

Doug Zeghibe, owner of The Skating Club of Boston, said that the crash would have “long-reaching impacts” for the community and that the club previously lost dozens of members in a plane crash in 1961.

Who was on the plane?

U.S. Figure Skating issued a statement confirming that several members, including athletes, coaches, and family members, were onboard the American Airlines jet.

“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 statement said.

The association added that they 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."

World figure skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were also onboard the American Airlines plane, Russian state media outlets have reported.

Russian news agency TASS reported and RIA Novosti both carried the news, each citing an unnamed source.

Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, are 1994 World Championship winners in pairs figure skating and were working as national team coaches for Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russian nationals were onboard but did not specify the duo. "Bad news from Washington today," he told reporters in his daily news conference. "We grieve and console with the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in this plane crash."

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and others held a press conference Thursday morning to provide the latest details on a mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter.

Are there any survivors?

Donnelly on Thursday morning said officials were switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

"We don't believe there are any survivors," Donnelly said.

As of Thursday, 27 bodies were recovered from the plane, and one had been recovered from the helicopter.

Donnelly added that the plane's fuselage was found inverted. It was located in three different sections in waist deep water of the Potomac River.

A recovery center has been set up at the DC Fire Helipad at South Capitol Street SW in D.C. to receive remains from the Potomac River crash. Boats arrive at the area and ambulances transfer human remains to red tents, a sort of temporary morgue.

The D.C. Medical Examiner is calling the recovery center the largest recovery operation undertaken in D.C. in decades.

All takeoffs and landings from Reagan National Airport are halted until at least 10:00 a.m. CT Thursday. The airport is expected to reopen after that.

As of early Thursday, hundreds of rescuers were searching the frigid waters of the Potomac River for bodies.

Images showed boats around a partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage. Helicopters flew overhead with powerful search lights scanning the murky waters.

Emergency vehicles lit up the banks of the Potomac in a long line of blinking red lights.

As of early Thursday morning, the water temperature was just above freezing.

Contact Us