19 bodies have been recovered so far from the Potomac River after an American Airlines flight collided in mid-air with a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington DC, with both crashing in the Potomac River.
About 300 first responders were working on the rescue operation, reports BBC.
The Potomac River is about 8 feet deep where the aircraft crashed at about 9 pm local time yesterday.
The jet, which was coming from Wichita, Kansas, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.
Three soldiers were in the helicopter.
The US Figure Skating Association confirmed that “several members of the skating community” were on board the plane.
The collision happened near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport around 21:00 local time.
Rescuers are currently scouring wreckage in the freezing Potomac River, where a plane carrying 64 people and a helicopter with three military personnel on board crashed after colliding in mid-air.
The US figure skating has confirmed that several members of its community were on board – “we don’t yet know the condition of these passengers”, said the community.
President Donald Trump reacted to the crash on his TruthSocial platform, saying he had been briefed on the “terrible accident” and questioning why the helicopter didn’t “go up or down”
The aircraft involved in a collision near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, last night, has been identified as a Canadair Regional Jet 700, operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines, and a US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
The Canadair Regional Jet 700 (CRJ700) was built in Canada by Bombardier. The single-aisle aircraft can seat between 68 and 78 passengers. The American Airlines website says its CRJ700s seat 65 people in three classes.
The CRJ700 is powered by two jet engines mounted on the rear of the aircraft. The CRJ-700 series first flew in 1999, with production of the jet ending in 2020. The aircraft affected, tail number N709PS, was built in 2004, according to FAA records.
The US Army UH-60 Black Hawk is built by Sikorsky Aircraft, part of defence giant Lockheed Martin. It’s powered by twin turbine engines and can carry up to 12 troops in a combat configuration, according to the manufacturer.
More than 5,000 Black Hawks are in service across the US military branches and with 35 other nations around the world, Lockheed Martin says.
