May 10, 2025 09:12 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
India opposes IMF's proposal to extend fresh loans to Pakistan, abstains from voting | Fresh Pakistani drones target Jammu, Samba and Pathankot; explosion heard in Pokhran | PM Modi meets all three service chiefs amid escalated tensions with Pakistan | 'We stand in unwavering solidarity with our armed forces': Gautam Adani amid escalation with Pakistan | 'India will firmly counter any escalation': S Jaishankar speaks to US Secretary Marco Rubio after Pakistan drone attack | Breaking News: Blackout in Jammu as Pakistan launches fresh attacks on Jammu, heavy shelling on, sirens heard | Ensure smooth functioning of essential services: Amit Shah tells states in security review meet after Operation Sindoor | Ensure smooth functioning of essential services: Amit Shah tells states in security review meet after Operation Sindoor | Seven Pakistani soldiers killed, five injured in bomb attack on military convoy in southwestern Balochistan | Modi, Albanese eye to advance India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during telephone conversation
Plane Crash
American jet plane collided with US Army chopper midair | Photo courtesy: Screen-grab from X post

American jet carrying 64 people collides with Army chopper midair, both crash into river; 18 bodies recovered

| @indiablooms | Jan 30, 2025, at 01:06 pm

Washington D.C./IBNS: An American Airlines Flight carrying 64 people collided with an Army chopper with three soldiers onboard midair near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and both crashed into the Potomac River of Washington D.C. on Wednesday, media reports said.

Eighteen bodies have been recovered so far. Many feared dead while no official confirmation has arrived yet.

The effort to rescue people from the river is underway.

About 300 first responders are searching for the bodies in the freezing river, said DC Fire chief John A. Donnelly.

"The challenges are access. The water that we’re operating in is about 8 feet deep, there is wind, there are pieces of ice out there so it’s just dangerous and hard to work in," Donnelly said as quoted by CNN.

"The water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in," he added.

All airport entrances have been closed.

Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser said she couldn't provide any timeline for the rescue operation and first responders would be on their job till all the passengers of the aircraft are traced.

Donnelly couldn't provide any confirmation on the casualty. "We don't know if there are survivors," he said.

"We will re-evaluate where we are with a rescue operation in the morning, when we get a better sense of it," the DC Fire chief added as quoted by BBC News.

Donnelly cited lack of light, wind and freezing water as the main challenges to the search operation.

Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority president Jack Potter said 19 aircrafts were diverted from the Reagan airport to Dulles International Airport which is nearby.

US president Donald Trump reacted sharply to the incident saying on Truth Social, "The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn.

"Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!"

 

 

 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Close menu