DC plane crash updates: 55 victims recovered and positively identified

All 67 people on board the plane and the helicopter were killed.

Last Updated: February 2, 2025, 4:59 PM EST

An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, with no survivors.

Sixty-four people were on board the plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three soldiers were on the helicopter.

The collision happened around 9 p.m. when the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet was on approach to the airport.

Map of the area around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the layout of Runway 33, which the regional American Airlines jet was approaching at the time of the collision with the Army Black Hawk helicopter, according to officials.
ABC News, Google Earth, Flightradar24, ADS-B Exchange
Jan 30, 2025, 7:19 AM EST

Source describes a gruesome scene emerging in search for survivors

A source briefed on the search-and-rescue operation described a gruesome scene with large numbers of bodies recovered.

Sadly the source had no information on any survivors. But he emphasized that there has been a desperate attempt to find victims alive.

-ABC News' Pierre Thomas

Jan 30, 2025, 5:18 AM EST

2 Russian figure skaters on board plane that crashed

Russian media reported that two Russian figure skaters were on board the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter outside D.C. and a presidential spokesman expressed condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the plane crash.

"There were other of our fellow citizens there. Bad news from Washington today," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday morning.

Earlier, several Russian state media outlets reported that the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were on board the plane, though U.S. authorities have not confirmed these reports.

Jan 30, 2025, 3:03 AM EST

Figure skaters, coaches among passengers aboard jet that collided with helicopter over DC

Figure skaters and coaches returning from the national championships were aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, the U.S. Figure Skating organization confirmed.

"U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C." the organization said in a statement. "These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas."

The statement went on to say: "We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

Jan 30, 2025, 2:45 AM EST

19 aircraft diverted from Reagan National Airport after crash

Some 19 aircraft that were in the air and due to land at Reagan National Airport had to be diverted after the mid-air collision of a regional American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, according to an airports official

The diverted flights landed at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, said Jack Potter, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, who spoke at an early Thursday morning press briefing.

Reagan National will be closed until at least 11 a.m. Thursday, but the situation is fluid, Potter said

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