Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport Nonetheless Closed After Lethal Crash

Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport (DCA) remained shut down on Thursday morning after an American Airways regional jet fatally collided mid-air with a navy helicopter simply exterior the airport on Wednesday night time.

All flights had been halted on the Washington, D.C.-area airport and are not anticipated to renew till a minimum of 11 a.m. on Thursday, in keeping with the airport. The airport’s terminals stay open.

As of early Thursday morning, greater than 500 flights had been cancelled out and in of DCA, in keeping with flight tracker FlightAware.

The incident occurred at about 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday when American Eagle Flight 5342 collided midair whereas trying to land on the airport with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter, in keeping with the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). The flight was operated on a Bombardier CRJ700 plane by regional service PSA Airways, wholly owned by American, and was headed from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C.

There have been 60 passengers and 4 crew members on board the American Airways plane, in keeping with an announcement from the service. The Related Press reviews {that a} navy helicopter, which additionally had a number of passengers on board, was on a coaching flight on the time.

As of Thursday morning, PSA Airways was pressured to cancel greater than 280 flights and American Airways was pressured to cancel an extra 165 flights, in keeping with FlightAware.

“First, and most significantly, I’d like to specific our deep sorrow about these occasions,” American’s CEO Robert Isom mentioned in a video handle posted to the airline’s web site. “It is a troublesome day for all of us at American Airways and our efforts now are targeted solely on the wants of our passengers, crew members, companions, first responders, together with their households and family members.”

The Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) and the FAA have launched an investigation into the crash, in keeping with the FAA. Isom mentioned the airline was “cooperating totally” with the investigation and “we need to be taught all the pieces we will about at present’s occasions.”

The our bodies of a minimum of 28 folks have been recovered from the frigid Potomac River, and whereas officers are nonetheless trying to find casualties, they don’t look forward to finding any survivors, the AP reported. If true, that may make this the deadliest U.S. air crash in almost 24 years.