Rescue boats have taken to the Potomac River near the airport, adjacent to the George Washington Parkway (Image: AP)
A map has revealed the final moments of the doomed flight before it tragically crashed into the Potomac River in , following a mid-air collision with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday evening. The small aircraft, which had 60 passengers and four crew members on board, crashed shortly after 9pm EST over the DCA Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
A significant search and rescue effort is currently in full swing, with all to and from the area being halted. Emergency helicopters from multiple agencies have been combing the crash site, searching for survivors, while rescue boats have taken to the Potomac River near the airport, adjacent to the George Washington Parkway.
For the latest developments on this catastrophe, stay tuned to our live blog. The Federal Aviation Administration has verified that the tragic incident occurred around 9pm EST when a regional jet from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter during its final descent.
Express US reports that air traffic control audio captured at the time of the crash includes a controller inquiring with the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” referring to the commercial jet. American Airlines, in a statement on social media, acknowledged awareness of the reports concerning one of its flights being involved in the accident and promised to release further details as they become available.
The moment of collision seen on video (Image: @X)
The plane’s route moments before the crash (Image: Flight Tracker)
A chilling scene unfolded near the Kennedy Center as surveillance footage captured two luminous objects, believed to be aircraft, merging in a ferocious blaze. The airport swiftly confirmed that emergency personnel were dispatched to handle “an aircraft incident on the airfield”, reports
Providing further details, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issued a statement to FOX News: “I can confirm President Trump has been made aware and tragically, it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet. That’s all I can confirm at this point in time. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Trump administration are with those involved.”
The horrifying airborne collision was caught by a webcam at the Kennedy Center and rapidly circulated online. While there has yet to be an official report on casualties, US Senator Ted Cruz disclosed: “While we don’t yet know how many on board were lost, we know there are fatalities.”
at 1048 pm Eastern: NBC Washington’s Mark Segraves, citing two sources, said the crash scene on the Potomac is closer toward the shore of Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and the American Airlines plane “split in two and is in about 7 feet of water…[T]he helicopter is…
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck)