Midair collision kills 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in almost a
Midair collision kills 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century
0 seconds of 1 minute, 0Volume 90%
1 of 37 |
A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., sending the two aircraft plummeting into the Potomac River. Everyone on board the two aircraft is feared dead, officials said Thursday.Read More
2 of 37 |
Alan Diehl, an aviation safety consultant, says federal investigators will examine many possible factors in the mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport, including the role of fatigue, night vision goggles and nearby aircraft.Read More
3 of 37 |
President Donald Trump is suggesting that the Federal Aviation Administration’s diversity efforts has made air travel less safe. The president asserted his opinion in a news conference, even though the crash has yet to be fully investigated.Read More
4 of 37 |
DC fire chief John Donnelly says no survivors were expected to be found from a midair collision between an American Airlines jet, with 64 on board, and an Army helicopter. Donnelly says the operation was switching “to a recovery operation.”Read More
5 of 37 |
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C
6 of 37 |
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asks the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight: “PAT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?” The controller makes another radio call to PAT25 moments later: “PAT-25 pass behind the CRJ.”Read More
7 of 37 |
National Transportation Safety Board to investigate a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas that killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.
8 of 37 |
A traveler whose airplane was rerouted to a different airport shortly after the fatal aircraft collision near Washington D.C. is reflecting on the life-and-death situation he and other passengers almost faced. (AP Video: Nathan Ellgren)Read More
9 of 37 |
Darrell Feller, a retired U.S. Army National Guard pilot, has flown helicopters along the same DC route as the fatal crash. Feller said the deadly collision reminded him of a similar incident he encountered. (Produced by Joseph B. Frederick)Read More
10 of 37 |
Two young figure skaters, two of their parents and two highly-regarded Russian figure skating coaches were among 67 people killed after an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River. (AP Video: Ted Shaffrey / AP Production: Ao Gao)Read More
11 of 37 |
President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on aviation safety which he says will undo “damage” done to federal agencies by the Biden administration. He also doubled down on assertions that “incompetence” might have played a role in the crash.Read More
12 of 37 |
As the nation reeled from the deadliest American aviation disaster in more than two decades, President Donald Trump on Thursday baselessly blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety. (AP Video: Mike Pesoli)
13 of 37 |
A diving team and police boat is seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
14 of 37 |
In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, wreckage is seen in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Bacon, U.S. Coast Guard via AP)Read More
15 of 37 |
In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, wreckage is seen in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Bacon, U.S. Coast Guard via AP)Read More
16 of 37 |
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
17 of 37 |
In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, wreckage is seen in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Bacon, U.S. Coast Guard via AP)Read More
18 of 37 |
This image provided by Dean Naujoks shows a law enforcement officer looking at debris recovered from the Potomac River on a dock on Daingerfield Island south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 (Dean Naujoks via AP)Read More
19 of 37 |
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
20 of 37 |
In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, response boat crews from Coast Guard stations Washington, Curtis Bay, Annapolis, Oxford and Crisfield enforce a safety zone around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Bacon/U.S. Coast Guard via AP)Read More
21 of 37 |
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows recovery efforts around the wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, near Arlington, Va. (Maxar Technologies via AP)Read More
22 of 37 |
A police boat is seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
23 of 37 |
President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
24 of 37 |
Pastor Bob Becker takes part in a prayer vigil in Wichita, Kan., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, for those affected by the crash of American Airlines flight 5342 near Washington the day before. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)
25 of 37 |
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
26 of 37 |
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
27 of 37 |
Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, early Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
28 of 37 |
A donated vase of red roses honors victims of the deadly collision between a passenger airliner and an Army helicopter that occurred the day prior, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at the Law Enforcement Memorial in Wichita, Kan., where the airline passenger flight originated. (AP Photo/John Hanna)Read More
29 of 37 |
Former Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan pauses while addressing the media at The Skating Club of Boston, The Skating Club of Boston, where six members of the club’s community, including athletes, coaches and family, were killed in an airplane collision with a helicopter on Wednesday in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Norwood, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)Read More
30 of 37 |
Passengers head for the gates for departing flights at Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kan., the starting point for a passenger airliner involved in a deadly collision with an Army helicopter in Washington the day prior, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/John Hanna)Read More
31 of 37 |
Former Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan, right, is embraced while arriving at The Skating Club of Boston with fellow Olympic skater Tenley Albright, left, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Norwood, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)Read More
32 of 37 |
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Russia perform during free skating in the pairs event of the NHK Trophy International Figure Skating Competition at Nagoya central Japan, Dec. 9, 1995. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)Read More
33 of 37 |
Wichita mayor Lily Wu hugs Pastor Albert Paredes during a prayer vigil in Wichita, Kan., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, for those affected by the crash of American Airlines flight 5342 near Washington the day before. (AP Photo/Travis Heying)Read More
34 of 37 |
Carla Lee, a retired Wichita State University nursing professor, holds a vase of red roses to show her support for the families of victims of a deadly collision between a passenger airliner and an Army helicopter that occurred the day prior, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, after a prayer vigil in Wichita, Kan., where the airline passenger flight originated. (AP Photo/John Hanna)Read More
35 of 37 |
A boat works the scene near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
36 of 37 |
A helicopter uses a spotlight on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
37 of 37 |
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, with District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, and other officials, speaks during a news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)Read More
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, TARA COPP, ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and LEA SKENEUpdated 8:53 PM MST, January 30, 2025Share
▶ Follow the AP’s live coverage of a midair collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A midair collision between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said Thursday, as they scrutinized the actions of the military pilot in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the American Airlines regional jet late Wednesday while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the river from Washington, officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.
President Donald Trump told a White House news conference that no one survived.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital.
The crash occurred before 9 p.m. in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over 3 miles (about 4.8 kilometers) south of the White House and the Capitol.
RELATED COVERAGE
Judge extends court-monitoring agreement for children in Customs and Border Protection custody
Dandy’s World toodles