Everyone on board a passenger jet and a military helicopter died when the aircraft collided near a Washington airport, President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday, as he sought to blame hiring practices at the Federal Aviation Administration for the tragedy.
American Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew, was flying to Ronald Reagan National Airport at an altitude of about 120 metres and travelling at about 220kph when it went down over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder.
"Sadly, there are no survivors," Mr Trump said. "This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history."
He said people from other countries including Russia were on the plane and that an announcement about their nationalities would be made soon. Mr Trump then sought to blame hiring standards at the FAA for being a factor in the crash.
"You must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system," he said, without providing any evidence that hiring practices played a role in the disaster.
When pressed for evidence that so-called diversity hirings were to blame, Mr Trump highlighted previous administrations’ efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes at federal agencies and said that he knew this because he has "common sense".
Despite these assertions, Mr Trump then added: "The helicopter obviously was in the wrong place at the wrong time and a tragedy occurred."
American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said the plane was making a normal approach when “the military aircraft came into the path” of the jet.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the crew of three soldiers was on an annual proficiency night training flight equipped with night vision goggles.
"We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft [helicopter] was in the corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident," Mr Hegseth said.
The FAA said the jet involved was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional carrier for American Airlines. The airport was closed overnight but resumed operations on Thursday.
One air traffic controller was responsible for co-ordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration that was obtained by the Associated Press. Those duties are often divided between two people, but the airport typically combines the roles at 9.30pm, once traffic begins to slow down.
Among those on the airliner were several US skaters and coaches, US Figure Skating said. Officials in Moscow also confirmed the presence of Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title.
Reagan National Airport is mainly a regional centre for domestic traffic. The nearby Dulles Airport caters more for international flights.
Mr Trump said earlier on his Truth Social platform that the incident “should have been prevented”.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport," he wrote. "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?"
All take-offs and landings were halted, the airport and police said. In audio from the air-traffic control tower at about the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter: “Pat25, do you have the CRJ in sight?”, in reference to the passenger plane.
“Tower, did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling, seconds after the collision. Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Centre shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to crash in a fireball. The airport said emergency personnel were responding to “an aircraft incident on the airfield”.
American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom expressed his “deep sorrow” over the collision in a video posted to the airline's website and social media channels. “Anything we can do, we are doing,” he added.
Across from the airport, from the vantage point of East Potomac Golf Course, what would normally have been a noisy atmosphere due to nearby flights had turned eerily quiet on Thursday.
Law enforcement officers patrolled the area near the course, as people sought to gain access and information. Police kept people at a distance especially at the Potomac, where workers were still trying to recover bodies.
Emergency crews have recovered 28 bodies so far, with the recovery search continuing.
"There was a lot more commotion this morning," a maintenance worker at the golf course told The National. "And now I'm hearing that they don't think anybody survived."
On Thursday afternoon, National Transport Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy described the crash as an “all hands on deck event".
“We’re going to leave no stone unturned,” Ms Homendy told reporters.
When asked about Mr Trump’s accusation that DEI programmes could be blamed for the crash, the she turned to how the investigation will take place.
“We look at the human, the machine and the environment, we will look at all the humans involved in this accident. We’ll look at the aircraft, we’ll look at the helicopter, that’s standard in any investigation.”
Brice Banning, a senior aircraft investigator with the NTSB, said that the board plans to release a preliminary investigation within 30 days.
“There are a lot of people sad and hurting today, but we will find out what happened,” Mr Banning said.
Ms Homendy later said that the black boxes for each aircraft, which record critical data that could hold clues as to why the crash occurred, have not yet been recovered. She said the NTSB briefed Mr Trump earlier in the day.
