An American Airlines passenger jet collided with a U.S Army helicopter Wednesday night while landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washinton D.C., causing news outlets like AP, CNN, New York Times, ABC and more to commence wall-to-wall coverage of the tragic accident.
According to AP, the crash occurred around 9 p.m. ET as American Airlines flight 5342 approached Reagan National. The plane was about 400 feet in the air when a sudden loss of altitude occurred. There were no immediate signs of casualties. According to American Airlines, 60 passengers and four crew members were on board. A search effort for survivors is currently underway near the Potomac River.
The plane was heading for Runway 33 after it was redirected by air traffic controllers. Less than a minute before the crash, a controller radioed to the Black Hawk asking if it could see the arriving plane, and shortly after, advised the helicopter to “pass behind” it. A brief moment later, the collision occurred.
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President Donald Trump issued an official statement after the incident, saying that he had been “fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
President Trump later took to his Truth Social platform to share more of his thoughts about the crash.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” Trump wrote. “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane 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. 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!!!”
This marks the first domestic airline crash since 2009 when Colgan Air Flight 3407 suffered from an aerodynamic stall and crashed near Buffalo, NY., resulting in the death of all 50 passengers and crew members on the flight.