Plane with 64 aboard crashes into Washington DC river after army helicopter collision

Multiple casualties reported after jet crashes into Potomac River; rescuers hampered by darkness, freezing temperatures; eyewitness describes ‘stream of sparks’ from crash

Boats work the scene on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. after a deadly midair collision (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Boats work the scene on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va. after a deadly midair collision (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WASHINGTON, United States — A US passenger plane carrying 64 people crashed into Washington’s chilly Potomac River on Wednesday after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport, prompting a major emergency response and the grounding of all flights.

The plane had been about to land after flying from Kansas.

At least 18 bodies have been recovered CBS News reported, citing a police official.

American Airlines, whose subsidiary operated the flight, said “there were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft.”

A US Army official said the helicopter was a Black Hawk model carrying three soldiers — their status currently unknown.

Washington police said “there is no confirmed information on casualties at this time,” although a massive search and rescue operation was in progress.

Emergency vehicles and rescue crews gather along the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport after an air crash near Washington, DC, on January 29, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

However, the Washington Post quoted unnamed sources saying police had started to pull multiple bodies from the Potomac.

Witness Ari Schulman described “a stream of sparks” and what looked like a large firework when the nighttime collision erupted overhead 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 at that point it was banked all the way to the right… I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it,” Schulman added. “It looked like a Roman candle.”

An information screen in Reagan National Airport’s empty baggage claim area displays emergency instructions after a plane crashed into the Potomac River outside Washington, DC, January 29, 2025. (Ulysse BELLIER / AFP)

US President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed” on the accident and said of any victims, “may God bless their souls.”

Dark, near-freezing river

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National, and Washington’s police said on X that “multiple agencies” were responding to the crash site in the Potomac.

Kristi Noem, the country’s new secretary of homeland security, posted on X that she was “deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts in this horrific incident at DCA.”

Police said fireboats had joined the operation on the river, where any work was complicated by the fact it was dark and close to freezing. Dozens of fire trucks headed toward the airport and divers could be seen going off boats into the Potomac.

Signs display an ‘Emergency Alert’ above an American Airlines counter in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, January 29, 2025. (Jeannie Ohm/AP)

The FAA said a Bombardier regional jet operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines “collided in midair” with a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter as it approached for landing at Reagan at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT). The plane had left from Wichita, Kansas.

It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.

US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas said the collision was “nothing short of a nightmare.”

“I ask the world to join me in praying for Kansas this evening, the first responders, rescue crews, and all those involved in this horrific accident,” he wrote on X.

“I have been in contact with local and national authorities asking for answers and will continue to demand more information on how this unfolded.”

A helicopter uses its searchlight as it flies above the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, January 29, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts’ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.

American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.

The collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.

A information board displays a message at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, January 29, 2025. (Julio Cortez/AP)

The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that his department was “actively monitoring” the situation that involved an Army helicopter. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said in a social media post that he was “at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation.”

The airport was to remain closed until 5 a.m. Friday.

Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.

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