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No Survivors In Washington Midair Plane Collision, Officials Confirm

Donnelly confirmed that recovery teams have so far retrieved 28 bodies from the passenger jet and one from the helicopter. Authorities believe all 67 individuals—64 aboard the American Airlines plane and three aboard the Black Hawk—are deceased.

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No Survivors In Washington Midair Plane Collision, Officials Confirm

In the wake of a deadly midair collision over the Potomac River near Washington, DC, authorities have shifted their focus from rescue operations to a recovery mission. DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly confirmed on Thursday that officials no longer expect to find survivors.

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"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," Donnelly stated during a press briefing held at Reagan National Airport. The collision involved an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers aboard.

Donnelly confirmed that recovery teams have so far retrieved 28 bodies from the passenger jet and one from the helicopter. Authorities believe all 67 individuals—64 aboard the American Airlines plane and three aboard the Black Hawk—are deceased.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy provided an update on the wreckage, revealing that the American Airlines jet, which crashed into the Potomac River following the collision, had broken into several pieces. The fuselage of the aircraft has been located overturned and submerged in waist-deep water. "The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted. It's been located in three different sections. It's in about waist-deep water, so that recovery is going to go on today," Duffy explained. Recovery efforts are ongoing, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will collaborate with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to analyze the wreckage.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom addressed the incident, placing blame on the US Army Black Hawk helicopter for the midair collision. "At this time, we don't know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft," Isom remarked.

The collision occurred Wednesday night when American Airlines Flight 5342, a regional jet with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, collided with the Black Hawk helicopter during a training mission. The crash occurred near Reagan National Airport, causing both aircraft to plummet into the Potomac River.

The collision took place during a busy time at the airport, which had 858 scheduled flights. In response to the crash, around 19 planes were diverted to nearby Dulles International Airport, while Reagan National was temporarily closed. Flight operations were grounded for the night, with a resumption expected by 11 am ET Thursday.

The crash has shocked the local community and beyond. President Donald Trump expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, writing on Truth Social, "This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented."

Also Read: Midair Collision Near Washington: How Did Two High-Tech Aircraft Fail to Avoid Each Other?

Plane Crash Washington DC