A regional jet from Kansas carrying 60 passengers crashed into Washington’s Potomac River after colliding mid-air with a Black Hawk Sikorsky H-60 military helicopter while on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said Wednesday, prompting a major emergency response and grounding all flights.
Eight bodies have since been recovered, according to media reports.
President Donald Trump “has been made aware of this situation and tragically it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News.
US Senator Ted Cruz said there were fatalities after the plane crash, saying in a statement, Cruz said: “While we don’t yet know how many on board were lost, we know there are fatalities.”
Cruz did not provide details or give the source of his information.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the small aircraft – a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 – crashed in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport late Wednesday, and fire boats were on the scene. The Federal Aviation Authority later ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan airport.
Witness Ari Schulman described “a stream of sparks” and what looked like a large firework when the nighttime collision erupted overhead as he drove home.
“Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land,” he told CNN. “Three seconds later and at that point it was banked all the way to the right… I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it. It looked like a Roman candle.”
Four crew and 60 passengers were on the ill-fated commercial Bombardier regional jet, American Airlines said.
This was confirmed by a US senator from Kansas. “A plane, traveling to the Nation’s capital from Wichita, KS carrying roughly 60 passengers collided with a Military helicopter,” Senator Roger Marshall posted on X, describing the situation as “nothing short of a nightmare.”
The Sikorsky H-60, commonly known as the Blackhawk, can carry as many as up to 15 people including crew. A US Army official told AFP that three US Army soldiers were aboard the military helicopter.
The District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department said on its social media accounts that it was responding to an apparent airplane crash in the Potomac River.
Police said on social media that “a multi-agency search and rescue operation is under way.” They said fireboats had joined the operation on the Potomac River, where any work was complicated by the fact it was dark and close to freezing. Dozens of fire trucks could be seen headed toward the airport.
US Senator Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, posted online that he had learned a plane inbound from Kansas was involved in a crash at the airport.
The airport said late on Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings had been halted emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering more information on the incident.
