Catastrophic plane crash in Washington, DC

AlArabiya English

A catastrophic mid-air collision just miles from the nation’s capital – an American Airlines jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter meet in a fiery disaster near Washington, DC. Here’s what we know so far.

Transcript

00:00A catastrophic midair collision just miles from the nation's capital.

00:05An American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter meet in a fiery

00:10disaster near Washington, D.C.

00:12Here's what we know so far.

00:18In a devastating incident, the passenger plane collided midair with the helicopter while

00:23approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

00:26All 67 individuals aboard both aircraft have perished in the crash, including American

00:31and Russian figure skaters who were among the plane's passengers.

00:35President Donald Trump addressed the nation, suggesting that diversity hiring practices

00:40within the Federal Aviation Administration may have played a role in the incident, though

00:45no evidence has been provided to support this claim.

00:47U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the helicopter crew was fairly experienced,

00:53but it remains unclear why the collision was not avoided.

00:56The crash occurred just miles from the White House and the Pentagon, near one of the most

01:01heavily controlled airspaces in the country.

01:04While authorities have not suggested an initial security threat, close proximity to key government

01:09sites underscores the severity of this disaster.

01:19Air traffic control recordings reveal that a controller warned the helicopter about the

01:23approaching jet just seconds before impact.

01:27The pilot acknowledged that warning, but the collision still occurred.

01:30At least 28 bodies have been pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River, and officials

01:36have confirmed that no survivors are expected.

01:37Despite all those efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue

01:42operation to a recovery operation.

01:45This marks the deadliest U.S. air disaster in nearly 25 years, ever since an American

01:50Airlines flight crashed back in 2001, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.

01:57So what caused this latest plane crash?

02:00The investigation continues.

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