Details are beginning to trickle in as we learn more about the horrific air disaster that saw a commercial plane collide with a helicopter.
Authorities fear that more than 60 people have died after an American Airlines plane crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington DC on January 29.
The incident occurred while Flight 5342 was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, which has halted all take-offs and landings as law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.
The crash resulted in a large search and rescue effort with authorities searching the Potomac River for bodies, as both aircrafts landed in the body of water after the crash.
28 bodies have been recovered from the river so far, however this number is expected to rise.
One of the people confirmed to have been on the flight was 26-year-old Spencer Lane, who was a member of the US figure skating team.
Ahead of the collision, and before taking off from Wichita Airport in Kansas, he made a post to social media that has proven to be particularly haunting.
He uploaded an image around 7pm ET on Wednesday of the wing of the doomed aircraft from his seat by the window. He captioned it ICT -> DCA the codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Other elite members of the American figure skating team are also believed to have been onboard the plane. They were also expected to compete at the next winter Olympics.
They were returning home to the DC area after attending a National Development Camp for young skaters in Wichita, Kansas.
Today (January 30) authorities gave a grim update on the incident.
During a news conference, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said: “We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has said that the plane is in three parts and that the search will continue today for the sake of the American people.
Duffy also said that both aircrafts were on ‘standard flightpaths’ before the collision and that it’s ‘not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA’.
Everything we know so far about the American Airlines plane crash
What caused the American Airlines crash?
This is still to be determined, with the black boxes from both the helicopter and plane vital to establishing what was going on in the build up to the fatal collision.
All we know at this stage is that the passenger plane and military helicopter collided as the plane was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s Runaway 33 to land.
What has American Airlines said about the crash?
The CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom, issued a response to the incident as he explained he was travelling to DC with a specialist team to aid the investigation.
In a statement, the businessman said: “This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, partners, first responders, along with their families and loved ones.
“I know that there are many questions. At this early stage, I’ll not be able to answer all of them, but I do want to share the information I have at this time.”
What has Donald Trump said about the American Airlines crash?
President Trump described the incident as a ‘bad situation’ that ‘should have been prevented’.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“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!!! What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”
