Whereas driving dwelling Wednesday evening on the George Washington Parkway close to Ronald Reagan Nationwide Airport, Ari Shulman mentioned a “spray of sparks” within the sky caught his consideration as he watched in horror the midair collision between American Airways Flight 5342 and a U.S. Military Black Hawk helicopter unfold.
Authorities mentioned Thursday that the crash shattered the regional commuter airplane into items because it and the navy helicopter plummeted into the icy Potomac River, killing everybody aboard each plane — 67 victims mixed.
“I appeared again and [the plane] was banked all the way in which to the appropriate … it was illuminated yellow beneath and there was a sprig of sparks on the underside,” Schulman informed ABC Information chief nationwide correspondent Byron Pitts.
Safety video launched shortly after the crash confirmed Shulman’s description of the primary main U.S. air catastrophe in almost 16 years.
A part of the wreckage is seen as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River after a airplane on strategy to Reagan Nationwide Airport crashed into the river exterior Washington, DC, on January 30, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP through Getty Pictures
Video footage confirmed Flight 5342 with 60 passengers and 4 crew members aboard making its ultimate strategy to Reagan Nationwide when it was struck by a Black Hawk helicopter touring south with a flight crew of three.
“I knew one thing was very unsuitable as a result of it was very, very near the bottom — banked all the way in which to the appropriate,” Shulman of Alexandria, Virginia, mentioned.
He mentioned he glanced on the street for only a second.
“I appeared again once more and it was gone,” Shulman mentioned. “I did not see any crash into the bottom. I did not see a fireball, an explosion, or flames.”
Rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River after a airplane on strategy to Reagan Nationwide Airport crashed into the river exterior Washington, DC, January 30, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP through Getty Pictures
Fireplace Chief John Donnelly of the Washington D.C. Fireplace Division mentioned at a information convention Thursday morning that an American Airways airplane, operated by its subsidiary PSA Airways, was discovered “inverted” in three items in waist-high water of the Potomac. He mentioned the helicopter was found close by.
“At this level, we do not imagine there are any survivors from this accident,” Donnelly mentioned.
Donnelly mentioned the search-and-rescue mission was not a search-and-recovery operation. He mentioned 27 our bodies had been recovered from the airplane and one from the helicopter.
Donnelly mentioned that at 8:48 p.m. native time, the management tower at Reagan Nationwide despatched out an alert of a airplane crash.
“In a short time, the decision escalated,” Donnelly mentioned.
He mentioned 300 first responders raced to the river in a determined try to search out survivors, which might show futile. Inside 10 minutes, the primary emergency unit arrived on the grisly scene, surveying the wreckage of each plane within the Potomac River.
“The water that we’re working in is about 8 toes deep,” Donnelly informed reporters on the somber early-morning briefing. “There’s wind … items of ice on the market, so it is simply harmful and onerous to work in. And since there’s not loads of lights, you are on the market looking each sq. inch of area to see if you will discover anyone.”
He added, “Divers are doing the identical factor within the water. The water is darkish, it’s murky, and that may be a very robust situation for them to dive in.”
An info display screen in Reagan Nationwide Airport’s empty baggage declare space shows emergency directions after a airplane crashed into the Potomac River exterior Washington, DC, January 29, 2025.
Ulysse Bellier/AFP through Getty Pictures
In the meantime, the medical staffs of three main Washington, D.C., hospitals mentioned they had been ready to deal with victims, however because the minutes was hours, no ambulances arrived from the crash web site with sufferers.
From the banks of the Potomac, search helicopters had been seen probing the water with searchlights as hearth boats made journeys backwards and forwards by the icy Potomac, transporting what seemed to be particles from the crash, together with suitcases.
Inside, the normally bustling airport was eerily quiet Wednesday night. The departure and arrivals boards had been almost clean.
Jack Potter, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, mentioned some members of the family had been ready to choose up family members earlier than the crash, and American Airways had arrange a middle within the airline’s lounge for members of the family.
