U.S. Officials: No One Survived the Washington Air Crash

Federal and local officials in Washington stated on Thursday, February 1, that no passengers aboard a small passenger plane and a U.S. military helicopter survived after a collision. According to the English section of Voice of America, these officials said that operations to recover the victims' bodies are ongoing. The incident occurred around 9 PM on Wednesday, February 1, when a passenger plane approaching Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington collided with a U.S. military helicopter that was conducting a test flight, and both crashed into the Potomac River near the airport. Rescue teams were searching for possible survivors in the cold waters of the river after the incident. U.S. officials reported that three U.S. military personnel were aboard the helicopter, and American Airlines, which was operating the flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, stated that there were 60 passengers and four crew members on the passenger plane. Previously, officials had not confirmed the casualties from the crash and stated that their focus was on rescue operations. John Donnelly, the head of the Washington Fire Department, mentioned regarding the number of survivors: 'We still do not know, and about 300 rescuers are searching in the cold, frozen waters of the river.' Meanwhile, the U.S. Figure Skating organization announced that several of its members, including athletes, coaches, and their family members, were among the passengers on the plane, stating: 'We are devastated by this unimaginable tragedy, and the families of the victims are in our hearts.' On the other hand, the Kremlin and Russian media reported that several Russian figure skaters, including world champion couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were on the plane. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters: 'We are sorry and extend our condolences to the families and friends.' A video of the collision, recorded by a camera near Kennedy Center, shows two bright lights coming together before a fireball erupted. The collision occurred at an altitude of about 120 meters. Earlier, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, wrote on the social media platform Truth Social: 'What a horrible night! It is a bright night, the plane lights are shining, why didn’t the helicopter move up or down or turn away? Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if it saw the plane? ... This is a bad situation that should have been avoided. Not good!' U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also described the situation as 'extremely tragic.' In another reaction, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, expressed sorrow over the 'horrific disaster' of the collision between the plane and the helicopter. Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines, stated that he and a team from the company traveled to Washington to provide assistance. He said in a video: 'Today is a hard day for all of us at American Airlines, and our efforts are now fully focused on the needs of the passengers, crew, partners, rescuers, along with their families and loved ones.' The last deadly passenger plane accident in the United States occurred in 2009 in Buffalo, New York.