WASHINGTON: An American Airlines regional passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the frigid Potomac River after a midair collision near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, officials said.
Officials did not provide a death toll from the collision. But U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, where the flight originated, suggested that all on board died. He said at a news conference at Reagan airport early Thursday that “it’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously.”
“When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow,” he said. “It’s a heartbreak beyond measure.”
Jack Potter, the president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, emphasized at the same news conference that first responders were in “rescue mode.”
CBS News had reported that at least 18 bodies had been recovered, citing a police official. Two sources told Reuters multiple bodies had been pulled from the water.
American Airlines confirmed that 64 people were aboard the jet: 60 passengers and four crew members. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight, a U.S. official said.–Reuters
Comments are closed.