January 30, 2025
Trump says collision ‘should have been prevented’
In a post on social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump seemed to blame the military helicopter for the accident which involves nearly 70 people on two aircrafts.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane,” Trump wrote.
“This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
In another post, minutes later, he wrote: “What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”
https://p.dw.com/p/4po4R
January 30, 2025
US Coast guards deployed on scene
Kristi Noem, the new secretary of homeland security in the Donald Trump administration, said that she was deploying “every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4po4N
January 30, 2025
Helicopter was on ‘training flight’
A US Army official said the helicopter was a Black Hawk model carrying three soldiers, AFP reported.
The status of the three soldiers on board is currently unknown.
The new US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, said the US army and the Department of Defense had immediately launched an investigation into the accident. His tweet said the helicopter was on a “training flight” when the collision took place.
“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir during a training flight.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4po4L
January 30, 2025
Big rescue operation to find survivors — in photos
https://p.dw.com/p/4po1r
January 30, 2025
60 passengers, 4 crew on jet that crashed in DC — American Airlines
American Airlines (AA) said American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, DC, was involved in an accident at the Ronald Reagan National Airport.
According to the airline, 60 passengers and four crew members were on the plane that crashed near Reagan Airport.
“Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft,” the statement read.
The plane is a CRJ-700, the airline added.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pnzZ
January 30, 2025
Massive rescue operation underway
All takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington have been halted as emergency services pace to the site of crash.
Several helicopters, including those from the US Park Police, the DC Metropolitan Police Department and US military, were flying over the scene of the incident in the Potomac River.
DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) posted on X that fireboats were on the banks of the Potomac.
A joint statement between the DC police department and the DC fire department read: “There is no confirmed information on casualties at this time.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4pnxa
January 30, 2025
American Airlines says its aware of crash reports
“We’re aware of reports that American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, with service from Wichita, Kansas (ICT) to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been involved in an incident,” American Airlines said in a statement on X. “We will provide information as it becomes available.”
PSA Airlines is a regional airline that is part of the American Airlines Group.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pnxA
January 30, 2025
President Trump ‘aware’ of the situation
US PresidentDonald Trump “has been made aware of the situation” following a collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening.
“Tragically it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
The passenger plane was flying from Wichita, Kansa to Washington, DC.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pnwt
January 30, 2025
What do we know about the collision?
The FAA said the crash happened when an American Airlines passenger jet collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter as it approached a runway at Reagan Airport.
In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” referring to the passenger aircraft.
“Tower did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.
The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.
Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.
https://p.dw.com/p/4pnx6
January 30, 2025
Small plane down in Potomac River
A small plane crashed in the Potomac River near the Ronald Regan Washington National Airport late Wednesday, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
An American Airlines regional plane collided with a helicopter as it approached a runway at Reagan Airport at around 9 p.m. local, the FAA said in a statement.
“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 agency said.
“PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas,” it said.
The D.C. police department said it was responding to an “apparent air crash in the Potomac River” and that a “multi-agency search and rescue operation is under way.”
mk/rm (Reuters, AFP, AP)
https://p.dw.com/p/4pnwa
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