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At least 30 bodies have been recovered in the Potomac River following a collision between a commercial aircraft and an Army helicopter near Washington D.C.
On Wednesday (January 29) night, a plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter with three soldiers on board while trying to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, per Newsweek.
“CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time,” the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed in a statement.
Search-and-rescue efforts were launched in the Potomac River. The number of casualties and survivors remains unclear. 30 bodies were recovered from the Potomac River as of Thursday (January 30) morning. D.C. Fire EMS Chief John Donelly noted that roughly 300 people were deployed to respond in frigid conditions, heavy wind, and ice on the water.
Authorities believe there could be no survivors from the collision.
“We are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point we don’t believe there are any survivors,” Donnelly said in a statement.
The commercial aircraft was an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas to Ronald Reagan Nation Airport. The Army unit was a military Black Hawk helicopter. The helicopter was reportedly on a training flight at the time of the incident.
Both flights were following standard flight patterns when the collision occurred, according to reports.
On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said an investigation into the collision remains ongoing but suggested that the incident may have been avoidable.
“We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but … what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” Duffy said.
The Skating Club of Boston said six of its members, including two skaters, two coaches, and two parents, were onboard the American Airlines flight on Wednesday. The Kremlin confirmed that Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who are listed as coaches with the Skating Club of Boston, were on the commercial plane.
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