Plane and military helicopter collided in Washington

Global

According to the airline, there were 60 passengers and 4 crew members on board the passenger plane that collided with a military helicopter carrying three people over the Potomac River in Washington on Wednesday night.

Federal and state authorities conducted a large search and rescue effort late into the evening local time. According to initial reports, four survivors were rescued from the water immediately after the accident. The US Coast Guard said it was deploying all available resources. The authorities of the states of Virginia and Maryland, as well as the city of Washington – police, ambulance and fire department – are all involved in the work. The governor of the state of Maryland said that the state police dive unit was also sent to the scene.

President Donald Trump issued a statement saying that he was closely following the developments and also thanked the rescue workers. American Airlines’ announcement reveals that the ill-fated airliner was heading from Wichita to Washington and was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Airport when it collided with a Blackhawk military helicopter on a training flight over the Potomac River. The collision occurred shortly before 9:00 p.m. local time, after which the two vehicles plunged into the river.

Ronald Reagan Airport is an extremely busy domestic airport of the American capital, located directly on the banks of the Potomac River, officially in Arlington, Virginia. The water surface above the Potomac River is used not only by passenger planes operating at the airport, but also by military planes and helicopters regularly flying over the river at low altitude to or from a nearby military base.

A video was also made of the collision.

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