Latest news with #BombardierCRJ701
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Washington plane crash: The footage that shows what went wrong
Credit: Earthcam At 8.45pm last night (1.45am GMT), American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas was descending calmly into Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. The skies were clear, the wind moderate, and among the 60 passengers were several top junior US figure skaters, who had just taken part in a training camp on the ice rinks of the Midwest. A web camera positioned above the John F Kennedy centre on the other side of the Potomac River captured grainy footage of the Bombardier CRJ701's flashing wing lights as the plane came into land. But also visible in the footage are the beacon lights of another aircraft, a US army UH-60 BlackHawk, flying low on a training mission. At 08.47pm, the two dots of light can be seen for a second on an apparent collision course. Credit: X/@nicksortor A recording from the air traffic control tower captures a panicked message to the pilots of the helicopter, under call-sign PAT25. 'PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,' a controller says. But the pilots of the Blackhawk, which had three soldiers on board, were unable to reply. Credit: In footage from the dash-cam of a passing car, a sudden, orange explosion lights up the night above Runway 33, seconds after the controller's message was relayed. The passenger plane can be seen falling out of the sky. 'Oh God,' says the driver of the car, Air Schulman, who was on her way home from work. 'Oh my God.' Gasps can also be heard from air traffic control: 'Oh, oh my God' says one controller, her voice breaking. Credit: X/@rawsalerts Flight path data reveals that the nose of the passenger jet ploughed into the port-side of the helicopter, with the crash sending the flaming wreckage of both aircraft into the river below. 'Tower, did you see that?' another nearby aircraft calls in by radio. 'Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,' says an air traffic controller, before beginning a frantic effort to redirect landing planes away from runway 33. 'I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.' Rescue services immediately headed towards the river to search for any survivors among the 67 people pitched into the dark water. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the dark water using search lights. Responders conducting the search and rescue operations were facing 'extremely rough' conditions in the river, an official said early Thursday. The helicopter was upside down in the water, one city official told the Washington Post, while the passenger jet was broken into pieces. By 5am, nineteen bodies had been pulled from the river, where current temperatures in the water are two degrees Celsius following several days of icy weather. On the banks of the Potomac, authorities asked camera crews and bystanders to turn the lights off their cameras so boats could focus on the water. The smell of fuel wafted up from the crash site as bits of debris floated on the surface, reporters said. 'We don't know if there are survivors,' DC Fire Chief John Donnelly announced, adding that 300 rescuers were working on the river. Inside the National airport where he was waiting for his wife, Hamaad Raza said he had lost contact with her after she texted him to say she was coming into land. '[I'm] just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now,' he told CNN affiliate WUSA. 'That's all I can pray for, I'm just praying to God.' Credit: WUSA9 None of the texts he sent in reply to his wife, whose last message was 'landing in 20 minutes', have been delivered, he said. National Airport closed for the night after the crash, redirecting traffic to Dulles or Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall Airport. Russia's state news agency, Tass, said high-profile figure skaters from the country were on board the American Airlines jet, including Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a pair who won the world championships in 1999. Their son Maxim, who competed for the United States in singles, was also feared to have been on board the plane, Russia's TASS and RIA news agencies reported. 'Bad news from Washington today,' said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. 'We regret and offer condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in this plane crash'. Roger Marshall, a Republican senator for Kansas, expressed 'heartbreak beyond measure' at the crash. 'When one person dies, it's a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it's an unbearable sorrow.' But president Donald Trump turned his focus on who was to blame, suggesting the helicopter pilots and air traffic control failed in their duties. He wrote on Truth Social: 'The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,' he wrote on Truth Social. '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, 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!!!' Air traffic controllers have recently feared that a deadly crash was inevitable, with a series of near-misses in recent years amid a nationwide staff shortage. The airspace along the Potomac River poses some of the most complex challenges in aviation safety across the entire United States, with military craft sharing the space with a huge volume of passenger jets. A New York Times investigation from 2023 found that human error was to blame for passenger jets being put on apparent collision courses. 'Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?' one controller said in January of that year, after barely preventing a mid-air collision. The crash last night is already the deadliest in the US for 23 years, and the first involving a passenger jet for 16. Built in 1941, National airport was expected to handle 15 million annual passengers at its maximum capacity. Today it hosts more than 25 million. In the early hours of this morning, a handful of families waited in dreadful suspense in the arrival lounge, reaping the aftermath of a crash that was long seen coming. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
30-01-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Washington plane crash: The footage that shows what went wrong
At 8.45pm last night (1.45am GMT), American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas was descending calmly into Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. The skies were clear, the wind moderate, and among the 60 passengers were several top junior US figure skaters, who had just taken part in a training camp on the ice rinks of the Midwest. A web camera positioned above the John F Kennedy centre on the other side of the Potomac River captured grainy footage of the Bombardier CRJ701's flashing wing lights as the plane came into land. But also visible in the footage are the beacon lights of another aircraft, a US army UH-60 BlackHawk, flying low on a training mission. At 08.47pm, the two dots of light can be seen for a second on an apparent collision course. A recording from the air traffic control tower captures a 'PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,' a controller says. But the pilots of the Blackhawk, which had three soldiers on board, were unable to reply. In footage from the dash-cam of a passing car, a sudden, orange explosion lights up the night above Runway 33, seconds after the controller's message was relayed. The passenger plane can be seen falling out of the sky. 'Oh God,' says the driver of the car, Air Schulman, who was on her way home from work. 'Oh my God.' Gasps can also be heard from air traffic control: 'Oh, oh my God' says one controller, her voice breaking. Flight path data reveals that the nose of the passenger jet ploughed into the port-side of the helicopter, with the crash sending the flaming wreckage of both aircraft into the river below. 'Tower, did you see that?' another nearby aircraft calls in by radio. 'Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,' says an air traffic controller, before beginning a frantic effort to redirect landing planes away from runway 33. 'I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.' Rescue services immediately headed towards the river to search for any survivors among the 67 people pitched into the dark water. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the dark water using search lights. Responders conducting the search and rescue operations were facing 'extremely rough' conditions in the river, an official said early Thursday. The helicopter was upside down in the water, one city official told the Washington Post, while the passenger jet was broken into pieces. By 5am, nineteen bodies had been pulled from the river, where current temperatures in the water are two degrees Celsius following several days of icy weather. On the banks of the Potomac, authorities asked camera crews and bystanders to turn the lights off their cameras so boats could focus on the water. The smell of fuel wafted up from the crash site as bits of debris floated on the surface, reporters said. 'We don't know if there are survivors,' DC Fire Chief John Donnelly announced, adding that 300 rescuers were working on the river. Inside the National airport where he was waiting for his wife, Hamaad Raza said he had lost contact with her after she texted him to say she was coming into land. '[I'm] just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now,' he told CNN affiliate WUSA. 'That's all I can pray for, I'm just praying to God.' None of the texts he sent in reply to his wife, whose last message was 'landing in 20 minutes', have been delivered, he said. National Airport closed for the night after the crash, redirecting traffic to Dulles or Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall Airport. Russia's state news agency, Tass, said high-profile figure skaters from the country were on board the American Airlines jet, including Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a pair who won the world championships in 1999. Their son Maxim, who competed for the United States in singles, was also feared to have been on board the plane, Russia's TASS and RIA news agencies reported. 'Bad news from Washington today,' said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. 'We regret and offer condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in this plane crash'. Roger Marshall, a Republican senator for Kansas, expressed 'heartbreak beyond measure' at the crash. 'When one person dies, it's a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it's an unbearable sorrow.' But president Donald Trump turned his focus on who was to blame, suggesting the helicopter pilots and air traffic control failed in their duties. He wrote on Truth Social: 'The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,' he wrote on Truth Social. '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, 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!!!' Air traffic controllers have recently feared that a deadly crash was inevitable, with a series of near-misses in recent years amid a nationwide staff shortage. The airspace along the Potomac River poses some of the most complex challenges in aviation safety across the entire United States, with military craft sharing the space with a huge volume of passenger jets. A New York Times investigation from 2023 found that human error was to blame for passenger jets being put on apparent collision courses. 'Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?' one controller said in January of that year, after barely preventing a mid-air collision. The crash last night is already the deadliest in the US for 23 years, and the first involving a passenger jet for 16. Built in 1941, National airport was expected to handle 15 million annual passengers at its maximum capacity. Today it hosts more than 25 million. In the early hours of this morning, a handful of families waited in dreadful suspense in the arrival lounge, reaping the aftermath of a crash that was long seen coming.
Sky News
30-01-2025
- General
- Sky News
Washington DC plane crash: What we know so far
A "highly complex" search and rescue operation is under way after a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter in Washington DC. The American Airlines flight was preparing to land at the Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided mid-air with the military aircraft and split into two pieces. Both aircraft then crashed into the Potomac River and 300 responders are currently working on the scene in "extremely tough" conditions, officials have said. Despite local media reports claiming four people have been found alive, DC fire chief John Donnelly said at a press conference: "We don't know if there are survivors, but we are working on it." This is what we know so far. What aircraft were involved? The crash involved a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ701 twin-engine jet regional jet and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed. The jet was American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, and was travelling from Wichita in Kansas to Reagan Washington National Airport. American Eagle is a regional brand for American Airlines. The other aircraft was a US Army helicopter - a UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia - which was on a training flight. What we know about the crash itself A few minutes before it was scheduled to land, the American Eagle flight was given permission to approach runway 33. Air traffic controllers checked with the helicopter pilot that they had the arriving plane in sight. Seconds later, the airliner was on approach to runway 33 and the US Army helicopter when the collision happened. CTV footage shows a flash of light in the sky at 8.47pm local time (1.47am UK time) appearing to show the moment the aircraft collided and burst into flames. Flight tracking information, based on data transmitted by the Bombardier plane's radio transponder, reveals it was at an altitude of about 400ft and a speed of about 140mph when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River. The plane broke into two pieces and is in about 7ft of water in the river, sources told the local NBC News station in Washington DC. The helicopter is upside down in the water. 0:41 Air traffic audio recorded in the immediate aftermath of the crash has been released. A controller says: "Um, I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ [the type of plane that crashed] and a helicopter that hit, I would say a half-mile off the approach." Within minutes, the controllers began redirecting other planes in the region. Who was on board the plane and helicopter? There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the jetliner, and three soldiers on the military aircraft. US Figure Skating, the national governing body for the sport in the US, said in a statement that several members of its skating community were on the passenger plane. 0:40 It said the athletes and coaches were returning home from the national development camp in Kansas. "We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," the statement said. Championship figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov have been named by Russian news agency TASS as two people who were on the plane. The married couple from Russia won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994. Has anyone been found? The number of bodies recovered from the crash site is "approaching 20", sources have told Sky News' US partner site NBC News. Earlier, CBS News said at least 18 bodies had been pulled from the Potomac River. Citing a police official, it said no survivors had been found yet. Earlier local media reports claimed four people had been found alive, but DC fire chief John Donnelly said at a press conference: "We don't know if there are survivors, but we are working on it." Officials have not provided any further information yet. 'Highly complex' rescue operation under way About 300 responders, inflatable boats and multiple helicopters are being used as part of the search and rescue operation which began about 10 minutes after the collision. Mr Donnelly said the operation is "highly complex" due to "extremely rough conditions". He said hypothermia is a concern for any possible survivors and first responders as it is currently cold and windy. He added: "There is wind. There are pieces of ice in the water. And because there is not a lot of light, you are out there searching every square inch of space. "These are very tough conditions to dive in." The US army and the defence department have begun an investigation into the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport would be closed until at least 4pm UK time. Officials will give their next briefing at 12.30pm UK time, the mayor of Washington DC has said in an update on X.
Sky News
30-01-2025
- General
- Sky News
Washington plane crash: What we know so far
A passenger jet has collided with a Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter while landing at an airport near Washington DC. This is what we know so far: • The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed the crash involved a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ701 twin-engine jet regional jet and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter. • The airliner was on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9pm local time (2am UK time). • American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, was travelling from Wichita, Kansas with 60 passengers and four crew on board. American Eagle is a regional brand for American Airlines. • The US Army helicopter - a UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia - was on a training flight when the collision happened. Three soldiers were on board. • At least 18 bodies have been recovered following the crash according to CBS News. There are no official figures for the number of dead or injured, but local media has also reported four people have been found alive. • The Bombardier plane which crashed in midair broke into two pieces and is in around seven feet of water in the Potomac River, sources told the local NBC News station in Washington DC. The helicopter is upside down in the water. • A large search and rescue operation is underway, involving boats and helicopters. Divers are also in the water. • CCTV footage shows a flash of light in the sky at 8.47pm local time (1.47am UK time) appearing to show the moment the aircraft collided and burst into flames. • A few minutes before it was scheduled to land, the American Eagle flight was given permission to approach runway 33. Air traffic controllers checked with the helicopter pilot that they had the arriving plane in sight. Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided. • Flight tracking information, based on data transmitted by the Bombardier plane's radio transponder, reveals it was at an altitude of about 400ft and a speed of about 140mph when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River. • The US President said he is monitoring the situation after being briefed on what he described was a "terrible accident". He also praised emergency crews and referenced the victims, adding: "May God Bless their souls".
