No Survivors As U.S. Army Chopper Collides With American Airlines Jet

At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with a U.S. Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said, Lolita C. Baldor, Tara Copp, and Eric Tucker reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Rescue crews continued searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors. I Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Facebook

Rescue crews continued searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make this the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.

“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly. “We don’t believe there are survivors.”

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also located, The Dallas Morning News reported.

There was no immediate word on the cause of Wednesday’s collision, but officials stated that flight conditions were clear. The jet, arriving from Wichita, Kansas, was making a routine landing when the helicopter entered its path. Among those on board were U.S. and Russian figure skaters.

“On final approach into Reagan National, it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said.

“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the … aircraft,” Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian, and Michael Biesecker also reported for AP.