A jet carrying 60 passengers collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside Washington before plunging into the Potomac River, triggering a desperate search for survivors.
The flight, operated by PSA Airlines for American Airlines with four crew members, had originated in Wichita, Kansas. The Bombardier CRJ700 collided with a US army Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter, which had three crew members, as it approached the airport at about 9pm on Wednesday.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said a rescue operation was under way, with about 300 federal, District of Columbia and state responders, including multiple teams of divers, at the scene.
Officials would not confirm if there had been any casualties, but many are feared dead.
US Figure Skating, the sport’s governing body, said several of its athletes, coaches and family members were on the American Airlines flight and returning from a development camp in Wichita.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy,” it said in a statement.
The airport, located near the Pentagon and across from the National Mall, said all take-offs and landings had been stopped but the terminal remained open.
Sirens blared across the US capital as dozens of police cars swarmed both sides of the river near the scene of the crash, closing off roads to traffic, while helicopters with searchlights circled above and boats circled the wreckage.
“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,” Washington mayor Muriel Bowser said at a briefing at the airport early on Thursday. “We are going to recover our fellow citizens.”
The Black Hawk was on a training flight, according to Heather Chairez, spokesperson for the army’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. The Black Hawk was operating out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, about 20 miles from the Pentagon, the army said.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X that the army and defence department had opened an investigation into the crash.
US President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on the terrible accident”. He later posted about the crash on Truth Social, saying it could have been prevented.
“The aeroplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the aeroplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn,” he asked.
“Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!” Trump added.
Serious aviation accidents are rare in the US. The last major crash involving a US commercial aircraft was in 2009, when 49 people were killed on board a Colgan Air flight which crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York.
American Airlines, which wholly owns PSA, said: “Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft.”
American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said he was travelling to Washington, adding that “we want to learn everything we can about today’s events. That work will take time”.
Sikorsky, which makes the Black Hawk helicopter and is owned by defence contractor Lockheed Martin, said: “We have offered our support to the investigation and our customer.”
MHI RJ Aviation, which acquired the CRJ series of aircraft and supporting operations from Bombardier in 2020, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jerry Moran, a senator from Kansas, told reporters he had lobbied for American Airlines to introduce a nonstop flight from Wichita to Reagan National Airport.
“That flight has been in existence about a year, and it is certainly true that Kansas and in Wichita in particular, we’re going to know people who are on this flight,” he said.
Additional reporting by Philip Georgiadis