Washington: Officials said that a regional passenger jet of an American military collided with a US military Black Hawk helicopter late Wednesday, and the Reagan Washington collided with a river Potomak river near the Washington National Airport.
The US Airline’s subsidiary was carrying 64 people, while the Army Black Hawk had three soldiers aboard the helicopter. Both the jet and the helicopter were in the river, when police divers searched for more bodies under the water.
“At this point, we do not believe that someone was surviving,” said John Donley, District Columbia Fire Chief John Donley. “We are now at a place where we are changing the rescue operation,” Donley added.
Addressing White House President Donald Trump, he confirmed the death of all 67 passengers aboard the jet and helicopter, and made an extraordinary political attack on the diversity of the tragedy.
Helicopter flights were stopped for the army unit involved in the incident, officials told Reuters. Flight passengers included ice skirts, family and coaches, which were returning from the events in Waketa, Kansas, including former Russian -born world champions Yijinia Shashkova and Wadim Namov.
Collature – The first major accident in the United States after 2009 when 49 people were killed near Buffalo in New York – the aircraft came to the national airport after a routine flight from the wicket.
Radio communication shows that the helicopter crew knew that the plane was nearby. The dramatic audio of the air traffic controllers repeatedly asked them whether the passenger jet was “in sight”, and then asked the plane to “pass” before the crash.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said both helicopters and aircraft are flying standard flight samples, and there has been no malfunction in communication. He said, “Everything was standard in the superiority of the accident.” Do I think it was worth preventing? Of course. “
Reagan is a major airport to travel a short distance from Washington, the White House and the Pentagon. Officials have raised concerns about a busy runway at the airport across the river from Washington.
In the US capital, three commercial airports and several large military facilities are often crowded at the airplane. There have been nearly a number of incidents that have given birth to the alarm, including a close confrontation in May 2024.
PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary of US Airlines CEO Robert Isoma, said the pilot had almost Six six -year flight experience. Secretary Defense Pete Hegsith said the helicopter was blown up by a “coffee experienced staff” who wore night vision springs in the annual skill training flight.
Trump used his press conference to launch a mass against him, which he said was his democratic predecessor who had left -wing diversity methods under Biden and Barack Obama, which he claimed. It was said that good employees were kept out of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“I kept the safety first. Trump said, Obama, Biden and Democrats kept the policy in children. “They actually came out with a guidance: ‘Very white.’ And we want to keep our smart people.
Trump started his press conference by talking about the nation’s “torture” and said that the investigation would take time. “We do not know what the cause of the accident, but we have some strong opinions and ideas,” Trump said.
The governing body was returning from a US -based Vikita training camp, the governing body said. “Skating is a very close and tough community,” said Doug Zegbi, a tear with a Boston skating club, where Shashkova and Namov coaching.
He told reporters that two young teenager Scatters Club and their mothers were also aboard the plane. Russia’s mesh news outlet published a list of 13 skisters, many of which migrated to the United States, who are believed to be on the plane.
Washington’s DC Fire Chief Donley said the situation was cold and sharp, which has made the operation “extremely rough” for 300 respondents at the scene. CBS News reports that a Dumbi team has recovered the so -called Black Box from one of the two data recorders.