Plane carrying more than 60 collides with helicopter, crashes in Washington - International
A US passenger plane carrying 64 people crashed into Washington DC's chilly Potomac River after colliding midair with a military helicopter on a nighttime training exercise Wednesday, prompting a major emergency response and the grounding of all flights.
The plane had been about to land at nearby Reagan National Airport after flying from Kansas.
American Airlines, whose subsidiary operated the flight, said "there were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft."
A US Army official said the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk model carrying three soldiers -- their status currently unknown. They had been on a "training flight," a separate military spokesperson said in a statement.
Washington police said "there is no confirmed information on casualties at this time."
However, a massive search and rescue operation was in progress, with divers visible as they plunged into the snow-lined Potomac.
The Washington Post quoted unnamed sources saying police had started to pull multiple bodies from the water.
Witness Ari Schulman described "a stream of sparks" and what looked like a large firework when the collision erupted overhead as he drove home.
"Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land," he told CNN.
"Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right... I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it," Schulman added. "It looked like a Roman candle."
President Donald Trump said in an official statement that he had been "fully briefed" and said of any victims, "may God bless their souls."
But less than four hours after the disaster -- and while other officials stressed they were waiting for investigations to unfold -- he went on social media to critique the air traffic control.
"The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing," Trump wrote on his app Truth Social.
"Why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!"
Dark, near-freezing river
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National, and Washington's police said on X that "multiple agencies" were responding to the crash site in the Potomac.
Kristi Noem, the country's new secretary of homeland security, posted on X that she was "deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts in this horrific incident at DCA."
Police said fireboats had joined the operation on the river, where any work was complicated by the fact it was dark and close to freezing. Dozens of fire trucks headed toward the airport.
The FAA said a Bombardier regional jet operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines "collided in midair" with a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter as it approached for landing at Reagan at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT). The plane had left from Wichita, Kansas.
US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas said on X the collision was "nothing short of a nightmare."
American Airlines' CEO issued a video statement in which he expressed "deep sorrow."
Crowded airspace
Questions were expected to focus on how a passenger plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation's capital.
The airspace around Washington is often crowded, with planes coming in low over the city to land at Reagan airport and helicopters -- military, civilian and carrying senior politicians -- buzzing about both day and night.
The same airport was the scene of a deadly crash in January 1982 when Air Florida flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off but quickly plummeted, hitting the 14th Street bridge and crashing through the ice into the Potomac River. 78 people died.
Investigators concluded the pilot had failed to activate sufficient de-icing procedures.
The last major fatal US crash was in 2009, when Continental Flight 3407 from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York crashed and killed all 49 people aboard.
Short link:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Egypt Independent
a day ago
- Egypt Independent
Black boxes will give investigators more certainty of what happened on Air India flight, experts say
Washington, DC — Investigators have recovered equipment from this week's tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad, India, which could shed light on the final moments on the flight deck. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, which were recovered from on top of the medical college hostel building where the plane crashed, could put to rest some of the speculation into the investigation that killed 241 people aboard the aircraft, according to aviation industry experts. The flight data recorder was recovered from the rear end of the plane. The question will be whether the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators, India or another country will ingest the black boxes' data, according to Peter Goelz, former managing director of the NTSB and a CNN aviation analyst. 'It's quite dramatic,' Goelz said. 'It looked to me like the plane was trying to land at the end. It was flaring, but we just won't know until we get the boxes back.' The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of India is in possession of the recorders and other potential pieces of evidence for the investigation. The data recorders are expected to give some insight into what happened during the flight's final moments, when pilots were making critical decisions. Less than a minute after takeoff, staff on the plane gave a mayday call to air traffic control, Indian civil aviation authorities said. The deadly crash has drawn even more global attention to air safety and spurred on public anxieties about flying. There have already been several aviation tragedies and incidents this year — including January's midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet — that have prompted calls to increase safety measures. Boeing's Dreamliner Boeing's 787-8 Dreamliner is highly regarded by many aviation experts for its reliability and engineering. In the last 14 years, the fleet has carried more than 1 billion total passengers, according to Boeing. 'It truly is an amazing airplane, and when they engineered it, it was completely off the normal production line of what Boeing usually creates,' said Erika Armstrong, a pilot and director of marketing at Advanced Aircrew Academy. For years, the company has drawn increasing scrutiny for crashes involving its planes, leading to the 20-month grounding of its MAX aircraft following two deadly crashes, quality concerns and financial woes. Golez said the tragedy 'couldn't happen at a worse time for Boeing,' which is part of the investigation along with GE Aerospace, the engine manufacturer for the plane. In the United States, the plane maker will be in the hot seat at the end of the month, when investigators are set to determine the probable cause of an in-flight separation of a mid-exit door plug on a Boeing 737-9 commercial plane near Portland, Oregon, last year. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has also reportedly canceled plans to attend the Paris Air Show, a major aviation industry event where the company typically shows off its aircraft. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg testifies before the US Senate on April 2, 2025. He has reportedly canceled plans to attend the Paris Air Show this year.'This accident is a further challenge,' Goelz said. The Dreamliner is popular for international routes, with the 787-8 configuration fitting up to 248 passengers, according to Boeing. What happens next The NTSB told CNN on Friday that investigators expect to be in India within the next few days. Jeff Guzzetti, president of consulting firm Guzzetti Aviation Risk Discovery and former NTSB official, said these investigations typically hold an 'organizational meeting' where all of the technical experts will gather, recalling his own experience with accidents. 'They will form specialty groups' assigned to analyze different areas, such as the engines or the flight data recorder, he said. 'They'll put representatives from the different organizations on these groups, and they will begin to methodically document the wreckage and download the recorders.' The crash falls under the jurisdiction of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations agency that helps 193 countries work together in air travel. Guzzetti said the investigation is in its fact-finding phase, which includes wreckage clean up and interviews of those who trained the pilots. The captain and first officer's background will be looked at, he said, which could range from how much sleep they got to what their flight record was like. The black box recovery is critical, many experts say, at this point, because the technology will point to what pilots were saying before they made the mayday call. 'This will not be a mystery for more than another week or so if they got the data recorded, and the voice recorder will also explain what the pilots thought they were dealing with,' Goelz said. 'Pilots sometimes make mistakes, you don't know.'
See - Sada Elbalad
03-06-2025
- See - Sada Elbalad
Former UN Secretary-General Visits GEM
Yara Sameh - Ali Abou Dashish The former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his accompanying delegation, as well as the Ambassador of South Korea to Egypt, Kim Yong-Hyun, visited the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on the sidelines of his official visit to Egypt. They were received by Dr. Ahmed Ghoneim, CEO of the Grand Egyptian Museum Authority, who guided them through key highlights of the museum. The tour included the outdoor courtyard, the main hall, the grand staircase, and the main exhibition halls that recount the stages of development of ancient Egyptian civilization from the beginning of the dynasties through the different eras, all the way to the Greek and Roman eras, through a modern and integrated museum display scenario. Ban expressed his great admiration with the organization and cultural richness he witnessed inside the museum, praising the efforts made in establishing this unique cultural edifice and the rare archaeological treasures it contains that contribute to introducing the world to the greatness of ancient Egyptian civilization as well as reflect Egypt's modern vision of preserving heritage and promoting global cultural dialogue. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks
Al-Ahram Weekly
03-05-2025
- Al-Ahram Weekly
New archaeological discovery in Sinai reveals Egypt's ancient eastern fortifications - Ancient Egypt
The excavations revealed a distinctive architectural design of the eastern gates of both the Ptolemaic and Roman fortresses previously discovered at the site. A large defensive trench, more than two metres deep, was also found at the entrance of the Ptolemaic fortress. Experts believe this feature was part of an adaptable defensive system designed to respond to imminent threats. "This discovery offers a deeper understanding of the defensive systems established in eastern Egypt and reaffirms Tell Abu Saifi's historical role as both a military and industrial hub across various eras," he added. 'The discovery is providing new insights into the defensive infrastructure that protected Egypt's eastern borders during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods,' said Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy, who highlighted the strategic importance of the site. According to Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the SCA, the discoveries help paint a clearer picture of Egypt's ancient defence strategies. 'Sinai has always served as Egypt's eastern gate and its first line of defence,' he said, adding that the mission also unearthed a well-preserved road stretching over 100 metres in length and 11 metres in width. Paved with limestone slabs, the road leads from the eastern gate of the Roman fortress to the heart of the site. It was constructed over an earlier Ptolemaic road, also made of limestone. On both sides of this road, archaeologists discovered over 500 clay planting circles, believed to have held trees that once lined the entrance to the fortress during the Ptolemaic period. The site also yielded Roman-era soldiers' quarters, offering rare insights into the daily lives of cavalry stationed there during the reigns of Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Hisham Hussein, head of the archaeological mission and Director-General of Sinai Antiquities, revealed that further discoveries were made, including four industrial-scale kilns used to produce quicklime—evidence that the site evolved into a production centre in the later Roman period, which likely led to the destruction of its earlier stone structures. Excavators also found traces of what may be an even older fortress beneath the known structures. The team has identified the four corners of this third fortress and is working to determine its date. In addition, several overlapping rectangular buildings were uncovered, believed to have served as long-term residential spaces during the Ptolemaic era. Tell Abu Saifi, situated near the ancient border city of Tharu, is considered one of Egypt's most strategically important archaeological sites. With changes in the Nile's course and coastal shifts over the centuries, the prominence of Tell Abu Saifi grew as it assumed a key role in the defence of Egypt's eastern frontier.
