Plane Carrying 64 Collides With Helicopter, Crashes In Washington
A military helicopter and a US passenger jet carrying 64 people collided midair on Wednesday during a nighttime training exercise, prompting a desperate search for survivors in the cold, almost-freezing water.
The plane was approaching Reagan National Airport at around 9: 00 pm (0200 GMT) after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.
The Bombardier regional jet was operated by PSA Airlines, whose subsidiary American Airlines reported having “60 passengers and four crew members on board.”
Three soldiers’ status is not known, according to a US Army official who claimed the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk with three people aboard. They had been on a “training flight”, a separate military spokesperson said in a statement.
No confirmed casualties information is available at this time, according to Washington police.
Divers were scouring the wreckage of both aircraft as a massive search and rescue operation was in progress, with divers clearly visible in the glare of bright lights as they plunged into Potomac.
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“We’re going to be out there as long as it takes, and we’re obviously trying to get to people as soon as possible, but we are going to recover our fellow citizens”, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.
At a press conference, Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly claimed that about 300 emergency personnel were operating in “extremely rough” conditions and that they had no idea how to arrive at a rescue vehicle.
When we have a better understanding of the rescue operation, Donnelly said, “We will re-evaluate where we are with it.”
“But we are still out there working, and we’re going to continue that throughout the night”.
Witness Ari Schulman observed what he termed “a stream of sparks” as he drove home.
“Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land”, he told CNN.
“Three seconds later, and that’s when it was banked all the way to the right,” Schulman continued. “I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath,” she continued.
“It looked like a Roman candle”.
 , Trump criticizes traffic control
In a formal statement, President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed” and that God would “bless their souls” in the event of a tragedy.
He then took to social media to criticize air traffic control less than four hours after the disaster, while other officials made it clear they were awaiting the results of their inquiries.
“The airplane was approaching the airport in a flawless and routine manner. For a long time the helicopter kept going straight at the airplane. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower request that the helicopter be seen instead of asking if it had been seen? This unfortunate circumstance appears to have been avoided. NOT GOOD!! “!
Reagan National was set to reopen on Thursday at 11:00 am (1600 GMT), but the Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all aircraft.
The collision was described as “nothing short of a nightmare,” according to the chief executive of American Airlines, who released a video statement in which he expressed “deep sorrow.”
 , Crowded airspace
A passenger plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers were to be the subject of questions that were intended to be primarily posed.
Washington’s airspace is frequently crowded, with helicopters carrying senior politicians or officials on day and night and planes flying in low over the city at Reagan airport.
In January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off from the same airport and quickly crashed into the Potomac River, smashing the 14th Street bridge and through the ice. Seventy-eight people died.
The pilot, according to investigators, allegedly violated enough de-icing laws.
All 49 people aboard Continental Flight 3407 from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York, collided and died in a major US air accident in 2009.
Source: Channels TV
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