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Plane Crashes Into Potomac River In US After Mid-Air Collision With Chopper Near Reagan Airport


Abramelin

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That water is just above freezing at this time of year. :(   I hope some of them survive, how awful...

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This shows moment of collision...

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I just heard about this on the nightly news here. I have it on CNN now. They said some of the plane isn't submerged so I hope they can find some survivors. No word on any yet.

A witness report.

Video: Witness describes moment passenger aircraft collided with US Army helicopter | CNN

Edited by susieice
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That video makes it seem that the helicopter pilot was to blame.  God, this is awful :( 

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4 minutes ago, and-then said:

That video makes it seem that the helicopter pilot was to blame.  God, this is awful :( 

I posted a video made by a person who was driving on the highway that goes alongside the runway. He estimates the plane was about 120 feet up. He said he didn't see the helicopter because it's a dark night, and it sounds like the copter didn't have any lights on. The plane was lit up. When a plane is landing, the cabin is lit up. Not just outside lights.

Edited by susieice
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Here's FOX live. 18 bodies have been recovered. They just said the last transmission was to the helicopter and they asked if they could see the plane.

Watch Fox News Channel Online | Stream Fox News

Edited by susieice
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The plane is in 2 pieces in 7 ft of water. The helicopter is nearby and upside down.

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1 hour ago, susieice said:

The plane is in 2 pieces in 7 ft of water. The helicopter is nearby and upside down.

Had the plane not fallen 350 ft while already traveling forward at over a hundred mph, many of them might have survived.

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I just saw a post on X, unconfirmed, that said the entire US Skating Team - 14 members, coaches, and some family members were on that flight.

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1 hour ago, and-then said:

I just saw a post on X, unconfirmed, that said the entire US Skating Team - 14 members, coaches, and some family members were on that flight.

Confirmed :(    

Per BBC live feed:

 

Quote

US Figure Skating - the American governing body for the sport - has confirmed in a statement that several members of its skating community were on board the American Airlines Flight 5342.

"These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas," the statement reads.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

The 2025 Prevagen US Figure Skating Championships were held in Wichita, Kansas between 20-26 January.


Also being reported that a couple of Russian figure skaters plus coaches were also on board

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  could it be the controller`s be blamed  ?they said to the  helicopter to land land?

Edited by docyabut2
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4 hours ago, and-then said:

Had the plane not fallen 350 ft while already traveling forward at over a hundred mph, many of them might have survived.

What on Earth does this mean?

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I don't know anything about flight control but the plane was on approach to a runway to land at the airport. I don't understand why a military helicopter on a training flight would be that close to an airport runway to begin with. 

I'm seeing now that over 30 bodies have been recovered.

I just watched some of the Figure Skating Championships. This is a tragic blow to the team. No word of what skaters were on the plane.

Edit: There's a news conference on now and he said it isn't unusual for military craft to fly in the area along the river. They said 27 bodies from the plane and 1 from the helicopter have been recovered.

Edited by susieice
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They know that Russian pairs skaters who won the World Championship in 1994 were on the plane. Their son, Maxim, is also feared to have been on the plane as he had competed in Wichita. They've lived in the US since 1998 training young skaters.

Ex-world champion figure skaters involved in tragic American Airlines plane crash in Washington DC | talkSPORT

Edited by susieice
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They're saying no survivors. 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-washington-dc

Also both aircraft were on regular flight paths. 

I don't know but since 9/11 they have had military helicopters that crisscross D.C. airspace and their function is to check for background radiation to check for the possibility of a dirty bomb. Like I said I don't know if that is what the helicopter was doing when it collided but it is a possibility. 

Quote

The night was clear and both the plane and the helicopter were on standard flight patterns, according to Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation. An Army official said that the helicopter, a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, was flying with three crew members.

 

Edited by Buzz_Light_Year
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This was close enough I heard it from home.  It was too long after the sound sirens and EMS response vehicles was alarming. Very sad indeed.

One item to note for those who've never been in the greater DC area is the sheer volume of aircraft constantly in the area directly near Reagan and the capital at any time. Dozens of inbound/outbound flights plus the multitude of helicopters by-type always buzzing as well. 

 

 

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I heard something from an aircrash investigator (?) on the BBC a couple of hours ago.

According to him the person in the tower had contact with the pilot of the chopper, asking,"Can you see the plane on your left?" or something. And 2 seconds later the crash happened.

The investigator wondered if the chopper pilot had looked at the wrong plane, the one that was flying much higher.

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Quote

An air traffic controller said, “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The controller then said, “PAT 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”

Additional air traffic control audio shortly before the collision captures the helicopter pilot saying, “PAT 2-5 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation.”

Less than 13 seconds later, the audio then captured audible gasps, including a loud “oooh” in the background apparently from the tower, at the moment of the crash.

 

https://www.kcci.com/article/plane-helicopter-crash-dc-air-traffic-control-audio/63616806

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Trump: Crash near Reagan National ‘looks like it should have been prevented

https://thehill.com/regulation/transportation/5115658-donald-trump-dca-crash-preventable/

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,” he continued. “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!!”

Edited by docyabut2
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Could this be like another 911😵

Edited by docyabut2
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What a nightmare.

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