On Wednesday night, a horrific tragedy struck the United States. American Airlines flight 5342, en route from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C., was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Airport when it collided with a Blackhawk military helicopter conducting a training flight. The crash occurred approximately 600 metres from the runway, over the Potomac River. According to Reuters, more than 60 people are feared dead, with no survivors believed to have made it through one of the deadliest plane crashes in US history.
‘At this point, we do not believe there were any survivors,’ District of Columbia Fire Chief John Donnelly said at a Thursday press conference. Donnelly confirmed that 28 bodies had been recovered from the river so far, describing the incident as the deadliest US air disaster in more than a decade. ‘We will work to find all the bodies and reunite them with their loved ones,’ he added.
US President Donald Trump released a statement early Thursday, saying: ‘May God bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.’
American Airlines confirmed that 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet, while U.S. authorities reported that the helicopter, which was on a training flight, was carrying three soldiers. According to The Independent, contestants and coaches from the US Figure Skating Championship were among the victims.
Video footage of the accident, which has since been released, shows a massive plume of flames erupting from the collision. Pre-disaster radio communications between the airliner and airport air traffic controllers indicate warnings about the presence of the military aircraft, but the collision occurred shortly afterward.
The US Coast Guard has committed all available resources to the search and rescue effort. Authorities from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., are involved, alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which has also joined the investigation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his deepest condolences to President Trump and the American people. In a post on X, he wrote: ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims!’
The crash could potentially be the deadliest commercial disaster in the US since the 2009 tragedy in Buffalo, New York. In that incident, all 45 passengers and four crew members were killed when a Colgan Air plane crashed into a house on 12 February 2009.
