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More than two dozen bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River after an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter collided Wednesday night near Washington, D.C., according to officials.
American Eagle Flight 5342 was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to the nation’s capital when it was “involved in an accident” at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, American Airlines said.
Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said authorities do not believe there are any survivors, and despite the immense effort from hundreds of first responders, authorities switched from a rescue operation to a recovery operation on Thursday.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, authorities recovered 27 bodies from the plane and one from the helicopter, D.C. according to Donnelly.
“The district office of the medical examiner has lead on reuniting these bodies and these people, with their loved ones,” Donnelly said during a Thursday press conference. “And we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones.”
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There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft, which was operated by American Airlines’ subsidiary PSA Airlines.
The Army told Fox News Digital that the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, carrying three soldiers, was “from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir” and was conducting a “training flight.”
Emergency personnel and divers work at the site of the crash after American Eagle flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed into the Potomac River, outside Washington, D.C., on (REUTERS/Carlos Barria / Reuters)
The collision happened around 9 p.m. ET when a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to runway 33 at Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
Several agencies, including D.C. Fire and EMS, the Metropolitan Police Department, conducted a massive search-and-rescue operation for survivors in the frigid waters of the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, shortly after the reports of a crash. All takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region scoured the site for survivors.
Images showed boats around a partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.
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American Airlines is asking people to call the airline if they believe they had loved ones on board the flight.
Emergency personnel work at the site of the crash after a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Eagle flight 5342 approaching Reagan Washington National Airport collided and crashed in the Potomac River, outside Washington, Jan. 30, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque / Reuters)
“I’d like to express our deep sorrow about these events. This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines. And our efforts now are focused now entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, partners, first responders, along with their families and loved ones,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a video statement Wednesday evening.
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Isom said that at this early stage he doesn’t have many answers, but that the airline is working with federal, state and local authorities.
The cause of the accident is still being investigated.
President Donald Trump said he has been “fully briefed” on the incident and that the crash “should have been prevented.”
FOX News’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
