Washington plane crash: 18 bodies recovered after plane crash


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least 18 bodies have been recovered after a midair collision between a regional passenger jet and an army helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport, CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing a police official.

PSA Airlines regional jet was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the FAA. According to American Airlines' website, the jet has a capacity for up to 65 passengers.

It is learnt that 64 people were aboard the passenger jet and three soldiers were onboard the military helicopter.

Police said multiple agencies were involved in a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, which borders the airport but that there was no immediate word on casualties.

ALSO READ: American Airlines jet, Army helicopter collide, crash into Washington's Potomac River

The airport said late Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings had been halted as emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering more information on the incident.

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Meanwhile, Russian figure skaters and coaches Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were onboard the plane, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported on Thursday, citing a source.

Shishkova and Naumov, who were married, won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994 and had lived in the United States, where they trained young ice skaters.



Their son Maxim was also feared to have been on board the plane, Russia's TASS and RIA news agencies reported. He had been competing at the US figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas from Jan 20-26, according to the event's website.



The couple were reported to have been returning from the competition and travelling with a group of young skaters.

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 the incident from news reports.

One woman told an airport official, "I don't know if she got on there or not," in apparent reference to a passenger on the crashed jet. She then collapsed in tears.

Hamaad Raza told local CBS affiliate WUSA that he was at Reagan airport waiting for his wife.

"She texted me that she was landing in 20 minutes," he said. "The rest of my text didn't ... did not get delivered. That's when I realised that something might be up. I'm just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now."

The US Army said in a statement that it could "confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight's incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia."

There has not been a fatal US passenger airplane accident since February 2009, but a series of near-miss incidents in recent years have raised serious safety concerns.

In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, killing 70 passengers and four crew members. Only four passengers and one crew member survived.

A web camera shot from the Kennedy Center in Washington showed an explosion mid-air across the Potomac about 8:47pm (0147 GMT) with an aircraft in flames falling rapidly.

PSA was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the FAA.

"We're cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a video statement.

Police said multiple agencies were involved in a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, which borders the airport.

Dozens of police, ambulance and rescue units, some ferrying boats, staged along the river and raced to positions along the tarmac of Reagan airport. Live TV images showed several boats in the water, flashing blue and red lights.

US President Donald Trump said in a statement that he had been "fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport."

"May God bless their souls," he added. "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."

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on Jan 20 and the Trump administration has not named a replacement - or even disclosed who is running the agency on an interim basis.

The last deadly major crash involving a commercial airliner in the US was in 2009, when all 49 people aboard a Colgan Air flight died when the plane crashed in New York state. One person also died on the ground.

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