All 64 people aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter were feared dead, officials said Thursday.
AFP reports that at least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the jet late Wednesday as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”
The plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water, and first responders were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport, Donnelly said. The helicopter wreckage was also found.
The cause of the crash remains unclear, though air traffic recordings revealed repeated warnings to the helicopter before the collision.
Among the victims were athletes, coaches, and officials, including Russian figure skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
The Bombardier jet, operated by an American Airlines subsidiary, was approaching Reagan National Airport when it collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk on a training flight.
AFP
