Washington plane crash after collision with military helicopter
At least 18 bodies pulled from river, more deaths feared
Washington plane crash: An American Airlines regional jet reportedly collided midair with a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The plane was coming from Wichita, Kansas. A person familiar with the details said the flight was carrying 64 people, CNBC reported. The airport was closed Wednesday night, January 29.
On January 30, 2025, an American Airlines regional jet (Flight 5342, carrying 64 passengers and crew) collided mid-air with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport, resulting in the aircraft crashing into the Potomac River.
The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed the incident, with emergency services currently engaged in a significant search and rescue operation. Fatalities have been reported, though exact numbers remain unconfirmed.
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According to local officials, at least one aircraft was in the Potomac River. There was a large presence of emergency responders. According to the airline’s website, its CRJ-700 aircraft have 65 seats.
The commercial plane involved in the crash split in two, it has been reported. NBC 4 Washington’s Mark Segraves said that two sources on the scene revealed that the American Airlines plane split in half. In fact, the aircraft is now seven feet under water in the Potomac River. Rescue efforts are underway.
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American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has said that the company is “cooperating fully” with the federal investigation into the crash. “We’re cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation, and will continue to provide all the information we can,” Isom said in a video statement posted on the company’s website.
“Our cooperation is without pause, and we want to learn everything we can about today’s events,” he added. “That work will take time, but anything we can do now, we’re doing.”
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An eyewitness who was driving home near the airport has described the horrifying crash. Ari Schulman was driving along the George Washington Parkway, which runs right by the airport, when the tragedy occurred. “You can always see these planes lined up to land. I always look at them when I’m driving home because it’s just a really interesting, kind of an elegant sight,” Schulman told NBC Washington.
Schulman said that he looked up and saw a plane roughly 120 to 150 feet in the air preparing to land, but when he looked back up moments later, “it looked very, very wrong.” “It looked to me like a giant Roman candle, sparks shooting from the head of the plane down to the tail. I saw that for about two seconds,” he said.
