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A diving team and police boat is seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Alamy Stock Photo

Investigators vow to leave 'no stone unturned' in Washington plane crash probe as 28 bodies recovered

US President Donald Trump today said there were “no survivors” after the crash between the the American Airlines jet and the US army helicopter.

US INVESTIGATORS HAVE said they will leave “no stone unturned” as they probe the cause of a mid-air crash between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in Washington DC. 

The American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near the US Capital at around 9pm local time (2am Irish time). 

At least 28 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River, with US President Donald Trump announcing at a White House press briefing today that there were “no survivors”, which would make it the deadliest US air crash in nearly 24 years.

“As one nation we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said during the briefing. 

In an update this evening, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy said: “This is an all hands on deck event.

“We’re here to assure the American people that we are going to leave no stone unturned in this investigation,” she said.

“We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts.”

national-transportation-safety-board-chair-jennifer-homendy-speaks-during-a-press-conference-at-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-thursday-jan-30-2025-in-arlington-va-as-board-members National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy speaks during a press conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with US and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.

Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said that both the helicopter and the plane were in a “standard flight pattern” prior to the collision. 

Duffy also said the plane’s fuselage had “inverted” and was sitting in waist-deep water. 

Trump politicises crash 

During his press briefing, Trump suggested that the Federal Aviation Administration’s diversity efforts had made air travel less safe, even though the crash has yet to be fully investigated, and there has been no determination as to whether the FAA did anything wrong.

The US President also suggested that he might make sweeping changes at federal aviation agencies.

There could firings “if we find that people aren’t mentally competent”.

“For some jobs,” Trump said, singling out air traffic controllers. “They have to be at the highest level of genius.”

president-donald-trump-speaks-in-the-james-brady-press-briefing-room-at-the-white-house-thursday-jan-30-2025-in-washington-ap-photoalex-brandon US President Donald Trump speaking in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Trump blamed previous administrations’ efforts to promote diversity at federal agencies for contributing to the crash.

Asked why he thought that was an issue what happened, he responded, “Because I have common sense”.

He also launched into an extended broadside against DEI, aiming directly at Biden’s openly gay transport secretary Pete Buttigieg, saying he had “run it right into the ground with his diversity”. 

Asked again by reporters whether he was blaming workplace diversity for the crash, Trump answered: “It could have been.”

Buttigieg responded on X, calling Trump “despicable.”

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he said.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy wrote on X that Trump’s comments “blaming the FAA’s hiring of women and black people for the crash – was disgusting.”

“He’s in charge. This happened on his watch,” Murphy said.

Earlier, a US Army official said the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk model carrying three soldiers. They had been on a “training flight,” a separate military spokesperson said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the mid-air collision occurred around 9pm local time when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, crashed into the helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.

All take-offs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.

Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point near the airport along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport.

High winds, low night-time visibility, cold weather and murky water were combining to make “a very tough condition to dive in” as roughly 300 emergency responders searched the Potomac for any survivors of the crash, chief Donnelly had told reporters at an earlier press conference.

a-helicopter-flies-over-the-potomac-river-near-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-thursday-jan-30-2025-in-arlington-va-ap-photocarolyn-kaster A helicopter flies over the Potomac River Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it is monitoring the ssituation,while the Irish embassy in Washington has also released a statement on X.

“The Embassy is aware of an incident involving a passenger aircraft in Washington DC and is monitoring the situation. Citizens in need of consular assistance should contact the Embassy at +1 202 462 3939 or the Department of Foreign Affairs at +353 1 408 2000.” 

‘Stream of sparks’

Witness Ari Schulman described “a stream of sparks” and what looked like a large firework when the collision erupted overhead as he drove home.

“Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land,” he told CNN.

“Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right… I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it,” Schulman added. “It looked like a Roman candle.”

search-and-rescue-efforts-are-seen-around-a-wreckage-site-in-the-potomac-river-from-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-early-thursday-morning-jan-30-2025-in-arlington-va-past-the-tail-o Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers had asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 and the pilots said they were able.

Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller can be heard asking the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight. The controller makes another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collide.

“Tower did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.

The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Centre shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

boats-work-the-scene-in-the-potomac-river-near-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-thursday-jan-30-2025-in-arlington-va-ap-photoalex-brandon Boats work the scene in the Potomac River Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Crowded airspace 

It remains unclear how a passenger plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation’s capital.

The airspace around Washington is often crowded, with planes coming in low over the city to land at Reagan Airport and helicopters – military, civilian and those carrying senior politicians or officials – flying in and out day and night.

The same airport was the scene of a deadly crash in January 1982 when Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off but quickly plummeted, hitting the 14th Street bridge and crashing through the ice into the Potomac River. Seventy-eight people died.

Investigators concluded the pilot had failed to activate sufficient de-icing procedures.

The last major fatal US air accident was in 2009, when Continental Flight 3407 from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York crashed and killed all 49 people aboard.

With reporting from Jane Moore, AFP and Press Association 

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