Washington — Tragedy has struck the US after a plane carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew on board, collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers.
The incident occurred near the Reagan National Airport in Washington DC. The plane was American Eagle Flight 5342 left Wichita, Kansas and was approaching the landing when the collision happened. Meanwhile, the helicopter was on a training flight that was based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, CBS reported.
Web camera footage below captured the moment the plane and helicopter collided:
A passenger plane and helicopter have collided in the skies above Washington DC.
A web camera shot from the Kennedy Center showed a flash of light mid-air across the Potomac River around 8.47pm local time.https://t.co/giM6v2ky4J pic.twitter.com/LNGGlWLSIF
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 30, 2025
According to BBC, there were several US and Russian figure skaters on board the flight, while the Kremlin confirmed that Russian citizens were also on board, with local media reported that ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the plane.
Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on board the flight, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
According to Washington Post, Members of the U.S. figure skating community expressed concern for the skaters aboard the flight. A U.S. Figure Skating spokesperson declined to answer how many athletes, coaches and family members were on board.
Footage from US Championships featuring figure skaters who were reportedly on board the passenger plane that crashed in Washington after a collision with a helicopter#Reagan #Reagan #DCCRASH #DCplanecrash #Washington #PlaneCrash #America pic.twitter.com/SoEiXMQsMx
— ℂ𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕖𝕧𝕒𝕣𝕒 ★ (@cheguwera) January 30, 2025
Emerging 🚨🚨🚨 🚨
30 bodies recovered from the Potomac River after the crash of the doomed plane in Washington, D.C.Response teams of about 300 personnel are still conducting a massive search operation
American Airlines: 64 people were on board the doomed plane#planecrash pic.twitter.com/8hV8bV03GK
— Debug 🥵✨ (@254Debug) January 30, 2025
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
