World champion figure skaters onboard jet that collided with US army helicopter
Washington: Scores of people are feared dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.
Officials did not provide a death toll from the collision. But US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, where the flight originated, suggested that all on board died, saying at a news conference at Reagan Airport that “it’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously.”
“When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow,” he said. “It’s a heartbreak beyond measure.”
Russian figure skaters and coaches Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were married and won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994, were among those aboard the plane, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported.
Several American skaters were also aboard the passenger jet, according to US Figure Skating, the governing body for figure skating in the United States.
It said athletes, coaches and family members were returning from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Kansas.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” it said in a statement.
A source told Reuters that as many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating.
Jack Potter, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, emphasised that first responders were in “rescue mode”.
US broadcaster CBS News had reported that at least 18 bodies had been recovered, citing a police official. Two sources told Reuters multiple bodies had been pulled from the water.
Emergency response units assess the wreckage in the Potomac River.Credit: Getty Images
American Airlines confirmed that 64 people were aboard the jet: 60 passengers and four crew members. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight, a US official said.
The midair collision occurred as the passenger jet en route from Wichita, Kansas, was on approach to land at Reagan. Radio communications between the air traffic control tower and the Black Hawk show that the helicopter crew were aware that the plane was in the vicinity.
The Pentagon said it was launching an immediate investigation into the incident, which President Donald Trump appeared to blame on the helicopter crew and air traffic controllers in a post 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,” Trump wrote.
Among those onboard were Russian world figure skating champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova.
“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!!!”
Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, callsign PAT25, before it collides with the plane, described as CRJ.
“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller says at 8:47pm, according to a recording on liveatc.net.
Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, “Tower, did you see that?” – apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.
Relatives gathered at the airport said they were getting little to no information from officials about the incident, adding that they were hearing more about the incident from news reports.
One woman told an airport official, “I don’t know if she got on there or not” in an apparent reference to a passenger on the crashed jet. She then collapsed in tears.
Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly said at least 300 first responders were continuing to work on the “highly complex” rescue operation.
“Conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders,” Donnelly said. “It’s cold. They’re dealing with windy conditions.”
Asked by reporters whether there were any survivors, he responded that “we don’t know yet”.
Officials say rescue efforts have been hampered by rough conditions.Credit: Getty Images
In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, killing 70 passengers and four crew members. Only four passengers and one crew member survived.
The last deadly major crash involving a commercial airliner in the US was in 2009, when all 49 people aboard a Colgan Air flight died when the plane crashed in New York state. One person also died on the ground.
But a series of near-miss incidents in recent years have raised serious safety concerns.
A web camera shot from the Kennedy Centre in Washington showed an explosion mid-air across the Potomac at about 8:47pm with an aircraft in flames falling rapidly.
PSA was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, according to the FAA.
“We’re cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a video statement.
Dozens of police, ambulance and rescue units, some ferrying boats, staged along the river and raced to positions along the tarmac of Reagan airport. Live TV images showed several boats in the water, flashing blue and red lights.
Reuters
Most Viewed in World
>read more at © Sydney Morning Herald
Views: 0