Several news outlets had regrettably confirmed that an American Airlines plane collided mid-air with a Black Hawk military helicopter, creating an explosion before both the plane and copter crashed into the Potomac River.
Two world-champion Russian figure skaters were among the passengers on an American Airlines flight that collided with a U.S. Army helicopter near Washington, DC, Russian state media outlet TASS reported, citing a source. The crash, which occurred Wednesday evening, also involved several members of the U.S. figure skating community.
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed in a statement that athletes, coaches, and family members were aboard the flight as they returned from the National Development Camp, held alongside the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the organization said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”
Sports analyst Christine Brennan noted to CNN that the camp primarily serves youth skaters, some of whom were on track for potential Olympic appearances in 2030. “We don’t yet have numbers, and, of course, we’re not going to give any names out at this point,” Brennan said. “But it appears to look like coaches, young skaters, and family members — and it could be quite a large number.”
Authorities have yet to release an official casualty report as investigations continue into the cause of the crash.
President Donald Trump is reacting to the collision of an American Airlines flight and a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington D.C.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” Trump 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!!!”
With 60 passengers on the plane and four passengers in the U.S. Army’s Black Hawk, no official death toll has been given, but .S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, where the flight originated, suggested that all on board died, saying at a news conference early Thursday 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.”
The AA flight, a small, single-engine that could seat up to 78 passengers, originated in Wichita, Kansas’ Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and was scheduled to land in D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Airport just moments before the deadly aerial collision.
The Pentagon has launched an immediate investigation into the incident, which former President Donald Trump weighed in on via Truth Social, seemingly blaming the helicopter crew and air traffic controllers.
“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. “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 captured what appear to be the final communications with the helicopter, callsign PAT25, before the collision with the plane, identified as a CRJ.
“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller is heard saying at 8:47 p.m. (0147 GMT), according to a recording from liveatc.net.
Moments later, another aircraft contacted air traffic control, seemingly reacting to the crash: “Tower, did you see that?” An air traffic controller then instructed incoming flights to runway 33 to divert.
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 it from news reports.
This is an ongoing news story and TheSource.com will update the story as more details develop.
