Latest news with #SikorskyBlackHawk
New York Post
2 days ago
- Climate
- New York Post
Stormy weather threatens Trump's military parade, but ‘historic celebration' will go on, White House says
Stormy weather could potentially put a damper on President Trump's massive military parade to mark the Army's 250th anniversary – but the White House vowed the 'historic celebration' will go on. As Washington, DC prepares for the momentous occasion that coincides with the commander in chief's 79th birthday, thunderstorms are looming Saturday late afternoon into evening, according to the forecast. 'Any changes to the Army Birthday Parade will be announced by the Department of Defense or America 250 Commission,' White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told The Post Thursday. Advertisement 3 A US Army reviewing stand continues to be built in front of the White House ahead of the Army's 250th birthday parade on Wednesday. Getty Images 'No matter what, a historic celebration of our military service members will take place!' An Army spokesperson told The Times of London that while rain isn't an issue, lightning is a concern. Advertisement 'Rain won't stop us, the tanks don't melt, but if there's lightning then that puts the crowd at risk … they will disperse the crowd and even cancel or postpone the parade,' chief spokesperson Steve Warren said. 'It will depend on the president, too, when he's available.' The Department of Defense deferred comment to the Army, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rows of tanks arrived in DC this week that are expected to be among the approximately 150 military vehicles on display for the parade. The daylong spectacle will also boast more than 6,500 soldiers and 50 aircraft, the Army said. Advertisement 3 The parade coincides with Trump's 79th birthday. AP The parade is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., which is around when scattered thunderstorms could strike, Fox Weather meteorologist Samantha Thomas said Thursday. It's expected to be cloudy, humid and around 80 degrees throughout the day with a better chance of thunderstorms at 3 p.m. or later. Following the parade, a concert at The Ellipse and fireworks are supposed to take place. Advertisement 3 A Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter is staged on the National Mall this week. JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The event is estimated to cost $25 million to $45 million, with some critics claiming the show of force is a waste of resources, though military parades are not unprecedented in the US. Trump called the price tag 'peanuts' compared to the value of putting on the celebration. 'We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world,' Trump told NBC News. 'We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it.'
Al Jazeera
31-01-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
DC plane crash: What we know about the victims and ongoing investigation
All 67 people on board an American Airlines flight and a Black Hawk helicopter that collided in midair while the plane was landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, DC, are believed to be dead, according to officials. This is the deadliest aviation tragedy in the United States since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines plane crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, shortly after taking off from John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City, killing 260 passengers on board and five people on the ground. Here is what we know about the victims of Wednesday's crash, what happened and what the initial investigations suggest might have contributed to the accident. How did the plane crash unfold? Flight 5342, operated by American Eagle, a regional branch of American Airlines, was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to the airport just outside Washington, DC. As it approached Ronald Reagan airport about 9pm on Wednesday (02:00 GMT on Thursday), the aircraft collided with a Sikorsky Black Hawk army helicopter. Shortly before landing, the plane's pilots were asked to change runways. While the plane was initially supposed to land on the main runway 1, the plane was asked to pivot to runway 33, which is much shorter. Flight tracking maps showed that the pilots accepted this request and adjusted the plane. Fewer than 30 seconds before the crash took place, an air traffic controller asked the army helicopter if it could see the plane. 'PAT25 [army helicopter], do you have a CRJ [American Airlines plane] in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,' an air traffic controller said at 8:47pm. A short time later, air traffic controllers could be heard saying, 'Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three.' The two aircraft crashed into the Potomac River. The cause of the collision is not known yet. Were there any survivors? The American Airlines flight was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members while the Black Hawk had three US army soldiers on board. 'We are now at a point where we're switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident,' Washington, DC, Fire Chief John Donnelly said in a televised statement on Thursday. How many bodies have been recovered? Donnelly added that the bodies of 27 people have been recovered from the plane while one body has been recovered from the helicopter. Separately, a law enforcement source told CBS News that at least 40 bodies have been recovered. What do we know about the investigation so far? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is carrying out an 'all-hands-on-deck' investigation into the crash, Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference on Thursday. The NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates civil aviation accidents in the US as well as serious incidents related to other modes of transportation. On Friday, the NTSB announced it had found the black boxes from the plane. Black boxes record flight data, pilots' conversations and radio communications during flights. These recorders provide significant information in investigating aviation incidents because they can reveal pilot actions or external factors that might have contributed to accidents. 'The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation,' the agency said in a post on X. While the investigation is at an early stage, multiple US media outlets, including The New York Times and NBC News, have quoted unnamed sources as saying there was an air traffic controller shortage on Wednesday night at Reagan airport. While normally there is one air traffic controller for planes and another one for helicopters, the same person was handling both planes and helicopters on Wednesday night. For the investigation, the NTSB will form working groups to look into different areas connected to the accident, according to NTSB board member Todd Inman. Inman explained that these groups would include: operations, investigation crew member duties and flight histories; power systems, looking into aircraft engines; structures, documenting the accident scene and air frame wreckage; survival factors, looking into injuries sustained; systems, looking into electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic components of the plane and helicopter; and an air traffic control group. The NTSB has not said how long the investigation would take, but investigations into aviation incidents can take one to two years. The agency typically releases a preliminary report a few weeks after the accident that contains information collected at the scene. Who were the victims of the plane crash? Little is known yet about the three soldiers on the helicopter. On the American Airlines flight, 14 people were affiliated with the figure skating community and were returning home from a national figure skating development camp for young skaters in Wichita, Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe said on Thursday. They included a Russian world champion skating couple as well as two teenage figure skaters and their mothers. Here is more about the victims: Samuel Lilley Lilley, 28, was one of the American Airlines pilots killed in the incident, Lilley's father, Timothy Lilley, confirmed in a Facebook post and comments to the media. Timothy Lilley wrote that his son was 'doing great' in his career and personal life and was to have been married this year. 'Now it hurts so bad I can't even cry myself to sleep. I know I'll see him again but my heart is breaking,' he wrote in the post. Jonathan Campos Flight captain Campos, 34, was also killed, according to a fellow pilot, CNN reported. His alma mater, Florida-based Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University, released a statement saying the institute was 'deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Captain Jonathan Campos'. The statement added that Campos graduated with an aeronautical science degree in 2015. Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova A married Russian couple – Naumov, 55, and Shishkova, 52 – were figure skating coaches. Naumov and Shishkova won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994. The couple moved to the US in the 1990s and became skating coaches. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Thursday that the couple was on the flight. 'We are sorry and send condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in the plane crash,' he said. They are survived by their son, Maxim Naumov, 23, who earned fourth place at the US national championships in Wichita on Sunday. Maxim Naumov, who was born in the US, was not on the flight. Jinna and Jin Han The Skating Club of Boston also said figure skater Jinna Han and her mother, Jin Han, were also killed in the crash. 'We watched Jinna just grow up here from just a tiny little tyke into this amazingly mature 13 year old,' Zeghibe said. Spencer and Christine Lane The Skating Club said Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine Lane, 49, were also killed. The figure skater from Barrington, Rhode Island, would often post about his skating journey on his social media accounts, including TikTok. On Wednesday, hours before the crash, he posted a photo on his Instagram story from inside the plane right before it took off from Wichita. Spencer Lane was adopted from South Korea in 2008 by Christine and Doug Lane, his father told US media outlet NewsNation. Doug Lane said his son was a 'force of nature' who started figure skating three years ago. 'It's just devastating,' he said. Alexandr Kirsanov, Sean Kay and Angela Yang A skating coach from Delaware, Kirsanov, 46, was also killed, his wife, Natalya Gudin, told ABC News. Gudin said Kirsanov was accompanying two young ice skaters on the trip. She said she last spoke with her husband as he boarded his flight. Kirsanov was the coach of young skating duo, Kay and Yang, who were also on the flight. Their ages are unclear at the moment. Olivia Ter Ter, 12, was a figure skater from Maryland and was also on the plane, according to a statement by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Ian Epstein Epstein, 53, was an American Airlines flight attendant who was also killed in the crash, Epstein's sister Robbie Bloom confirmed to CNN. The flight attendant is survived by two children and two stepchildren. Asra Hussain Raza Hussain Raza, 26, was also killed in the accident, her father-in-law told CNN. Hussain Raza was a daughter of Indian immigrants and was a consultant based in Washington, DC. She would travel to Wichita twice a month to work on a project for a hospital there. Other victims identified Other victims who have been identified by local media so far include Wendy Jo Shaffer, Brielle Beyer, Justyna Beyer, Grace Maxwell and Casey Crafton.
Al Jazeera
30-01-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Deadly US plane crash with dozens on board: What we know so far
Several people are reported to have been killed after an American Airlines plane collided with an army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan Washington national airport near the District of Columbia. American Airlines said on Thursday that 60 passengers and four crew members were on board the jet travelling from Wichita, Kansas, to the US capital. An unnamed army official confirmed that the helicopter, on a training flight, was carrying three soldiers who had taken off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River after the collision. Inflatable rescue boats were launched, and rescuers used light towers to illuminate the site. Washington, DC fire chief John Donnelly said it was a 'highly complex operation'. 'The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.' DC Mayor Muriel Bowser also told a news conference at the airport that rescue efforts were under way to 'recover fellow citizens'. Here's everything we know about the crash: What happened and when? At about 9pm local time (02:00 GMT), an inbound American Airlines aircraft (flight 5342), manufactured by the Canadian firm Bombardier, collided with a Sikorsky Black Hawk army helicopter as it approached the Ronald Reagan airport, located along the Potomac River southwest of DC. Before the scheduled landing, air traffic controllers asked the pilots if they could land on Runway 33, and flight tracking sites showed that the pilots adjusted their flight path to align with the request. Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the army helicopter if it could see the arriving plane. 'PAT25 [army helicopter], do you have a CRJ [American Airlines plane] in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,' an air traffic controller said at 8:47pm (ET on Wednesday, 01:47 GMT on Thursday). At the time of the crash, air traffic controllers were heard saying, 'Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three.' '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,' another controller said. Images from the midair collision, caught on a webcam at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, showed the two aircraft exploding into flames and plummeting into the Potomac River. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO John Potter said the airport would remain closed until at least 11am local time (16:00 GMT). What do we know about the victims? The governing skating body said several of the 60 passengers on board the plane were US ice skaters, family members, and coaches returning from a camp after a figure skating competition. The three people on the helicopter were all believed to be soldiers. CBS News, citing a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation, said the bodies of at least 30 people had been recovered. US government officials have not mentioned anything about survivors. Russian state news agency TASS reported that former figure skating world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among those killed. The Kremlin expressed its condolences to the families of the Russian victims of the accident. 'There were other of our fellow citizens on board. It's bad news today from Washington. We are sorry and send our condolences to families and friends,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. While no official death toll has been announced, US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, from where the flight had originated, suggested most, if not all, on board had been killed. 'It's really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously,' he told a news conference at Reagan airport. Dan DePodwin, AccuWeather's senior director of forecast operations, told the Reuters news agency that hypothermia is a concern for anyone who might have survived the crash after the plane fell into the river. 'At these frigid water temperatures, the human body's core temperature quickly drops. Exhaustion or unconsciousness can occur in as little as 15 to 30 minutes,' DePodwin said. What is a Black Hawk helicopter? The Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter is a military transport aircraft used by the navy, air force and coastguard. The aerospace company Intergalactic said the aircraft can carry four crew members and '11 to 14 fully armed troops … or up to 20 lightly equipped passengers'. What have officials said? President Donald Trump questioned the actions of the army helicopter in a post on Truth Social. 'The helicopter was going straight at the aeroplane 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,' Trump wrote. '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!!!,' he added. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on X that an investigation would be launched 'immediately' by the army and the Department of Defense into the cause of the incident. Todd Curtis, CEO of consultancy firm told Al Jazeera that the collision was 'very unusual'. 'The Washington national airport, where this event occurred, is one of the busiest in the country and it's very, very well managed by air control,' Curtis, a former airline safety engineer for Boeing, said. 'It's surprising to me that something that is routine for the military somehow ended in a tragedy. I suspect there are several things that had to go wrong for this to happen,' he added.
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".
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Commercial airliner in mid-air crash with Black Hawk helicopter over Washington DC
A passenger jet has collided mid-air with a Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter while landing at an airport near Washington DC. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed the crash involved a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 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). PSA was operating flight AA5342 for American Airlines which had departed from the city of Wichita, Kansas. The crash site is centred on the Potomac River near the airport. Multiple helicopters, including those from the US Park Police, DC Metropolitan Police Department and US military, were flying over the scene Local police said on social media that "a multi-agency search and rescue operation is underway". The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering more information on the incident. All takeoffs and landings at the airport have been temporarily halted, though the terminal remains open. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
