Hamaad Raza was waiting for his wife at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC when he saw the sudden rush of activity and rescue teams heading towards the Potomac River. The American Airlines flight she was on had collided with a military helicopter while trying to land.
My wife texted me that she is landing in 20 minutes, Raza said to CBS News. “I am just praying someone is pulling her out of the river right now.”
Teams of rescuers put boats in the Potomac, and light towers have lit up the area, but law enforcement helicopters were hovering overhead as bodies mounted to 18 and more injured were feared to be on board.
Details of the Crash
The incident happened in one of the most surveilled atmospheres of the world. The plane crashed three miles south of the White House and the US Capitol. The flight tracking data shows that the Bombardier CRJ-701, an aircraft of the regional jet and made in Canada, was made to land on approach towards Reagan National when suddenly it lost altitude over the Potomac River. Immediately before the crash, air traffic controllers had cleared the plane to land on Runway 33.
The FAA says that only 30 seconds before the impact, the air traffic controller contacted the helicopter, asking if it had the jet in sight. The controller later instructed the helicopter to pass behind the jet, but the two aircraft collided midair.
A nearby camera at the Kennedy Center caught footage showing two sets of lights merging into a fireball at the time of the crash. The radio transponder from the plane had stopped transmitting around 2,400 feet from the runway directly over the river.
Government Response
After the crash, President Donald Trump expressed his condolences. He said, “I have been fully briefed on this terrible accident,” and added, “May God Bless their souls.”
Reagan National Airport was immediately shut down. Operations were expected to resume by 5 a.m. on Friday. The airport is a key entry point for tourists visiting Washington D.C., providing scenic views of landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and US Capitol.
This crash has brought back memories of the 1982 Air Florida disaster, when an airliner plunged into the Potomac killing 78 people. The accident marks the first fatal accident involving a US commercial airliner since 2009, when a similar tragedy near Buffalo, New York, claimed 50 lives.