Yahoo Lifestyle American Airlines Crash in D.C. Is Third Deadliest U.S. Aircraft Incident Since 9/11
There were 64 people on the American Airlines jet and three soldiers in the U.S. Army helicopter at the time of the Jan. 29 midair collision
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty
Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue crews search the waters of the Potomac River after a passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river after colliding with a U.S. Army helicopter, on Jan. 30, 2025.At the time of the Jan. 29, 2025, midair collision, the American Airlines plane had 64 people onboard and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter carried three soldiers
The latest disaster follows two of the deadliest aviation crashes in the U.S. since 2001, including the Sept. 11 attacks
An official said on Jan. 30 that no survivors were expected from the collision
Officials announced that they don’t believe there are any survivors in the Wednesday, Jan. 29 midair collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington D.C., — which would make it the third-most deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
At the time, there were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the jet, according to a statement from American Airlines. There were also three soldiers onboard the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, a U.S. Army official confirmed to CNN.
As the Associated Press noted, deadly crashes involving commercial aircraft are rare. However, there have been notable incidents in the last 24 years beginning with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planes and intentionally crashed two of them into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City.
Another plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. — while the hijacked passengers on Flight 93 fought back, resulting in the downing of that plane into an empty in western Pennsylvania. In all, nearly 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks.
Two months after 9/11, on Nov. 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 bound for the Dominican Republic crashed in Belle Harbor, N.Y., following its takeoff from Kennedy International Airport. The incident claimed the lives of 260 people who were on the plane and five people on the ground. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the accident was the result of “the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer and subsequent loss of control,” the FAA reported.
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The most recent deadly commercial aircraft incident occurred on Feb. 12, 2009, when Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed into a residence in Clarence Center, N.Y., as it was approaching Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. Forty-nine people onboard the Bombardier DHC-8 and one person on the ground were killed, and the airplane “was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire,” said the NTSB.
During a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30, about the collision involving the American Airlines jet and the Army helicopter, Washington, D.C., Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly announced that 27 bodies were recovered from the plane and one from the chopper.
“The District Office of the Medical Examiner has led on reuniting these bodies and these people with their loved ones and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones,” he added.
Among those who were aboard the American Airlines jet, which flew from Wichita, Kan., and bound for Washington D.C., included several U.S. figure skaters, according to U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
"U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.," the Jan. 30 statement read.
"These athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan.," the governing body added.
"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available," the statement concluded.
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