(CLO) Authorities said Thursday it was still unclear why a passenger plane crashed into a U.S. Army helicopter at a Washington airport, killing 67 people in the country's deadliest aviation disaster in more than 20 years.
The crash investigation is ongoing. An American Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River as it prepared to land at Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday.
The names of all the victims have not yet been released, but among them were several promising young skaters and people from Kansas, where the flight departed.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said both planes were flying standard routes and there was no communication breakdown. "Everything was operating normally up until the time of the accident," Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said. Washington's main airport is just across the river in Virginia.
Accident scene. Photo: GI
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board said they had just begun their work and would have a preliminary report within 30 days. They said they had not yet recovered the plane's "black box" flight data recorder.
At the White House, President Donald Trump criticized the helicopter pilots and said air traffic controllers were responsible. "We don't know what caused this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," he said.
Radio communications show that air traffic controllers warned the helicopter of the approaching jet and ordered it to change course.
However, a shortage of air traffic controllers in the United States in recent years has raised safety concerns. At some bases, controllers are required to take on mandatory overtime and work six-day weeks to make up for the shortage. The Federal Aviation Administration has about 3,000 fewer controllers than it needs.
Airspace is often crowded in the US capital region, home to three commercial airports and several major military facilities, and officials have raised concerns about the crowded runways at Reagan National Airport. There have been a number of alarming near misses at the airport, including one in May 2024.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the pilot of American Eagle Flight 5342 had about six years of flying experience. The Bombardier CRJ-700 jet was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the helicopter was being flown by a “fairly experienced crew” of three soldiers wearing night vision goggles on a routine training flight. Officials said they were suspending other flights from the Army unit involved in the crash and would reassess training exercises in the area.
Air traffic control recordings appear to have recorded the last attempt to contact the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collided with the jet.
It was the deadliest air disaster in the United States since November 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.
Reagan National Airport's main runway is the busiest in the United States, with more than 800 takeoffs and landings each day. The airport is just two miles from the White House and half a mile from the Pentagon, where 189 people were killed when Al Qaeda hijackers attacked American Airlines Flight 77 on September 11, 2001.
Huy Anh (according to WH, Reuters, UAG)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tranh-cai-ve-nguyen-nhan-dan-den-tham-hoa-hang-khong-khien-67-nguoi-thiet-mang-o-washington-post332489.html
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