A regional jet flown for American Airlines Group Inc. collided in midair with a military helicopter in Washington, DC, halting operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and prompting a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River.
The plane, operated by subsidiary PSA Airlines, collided with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Reagan airport at around 9 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Wednesday night. The flight departed from Wichita, Kansas.
There was no immediate information on possible casualties, Washington police said.
“While we don’t yet know how many on board were lost, we know there are fatalities,” said Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FAA.
The aircraft involved was a Mitsubishi CRJ-700 jet, which typically seats 65 people and is generally used for shorter trips.
Reagan Airport has suspended all aircraft take-offs and landings in response to the incident, the airport operator said in a post on X.
The DC Fire and EMS Department Emergency teams said they are responding to multiple calls that were received reporting an aircraft crash in the Potomac River in the vicinity of the airport.
American Airlines said it was aware of reports “that Flight 5342 has been involved in an accident,” adding that it would provide more information as it becomes available.
American Eagle is a network of six regional carriers operating for the larger airline, three of which are owned by American.
PSA Airlines is the smallest of those three, operating 130 aircraft on an average of 600 daily flights. It’s based in Dayton, Ohio.
Reagan airport is in Arlington, Va., just across the river from the nation’s capital and just south of the Pentagon.
President Donald Trump has been made aware of this situation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News.
“Tragically, it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet at DCA airport right here in Washington, DC. That’s all I can confirm at this point in time,” she said.
The crash revived memories of an air disaster in January 1982 when an Air Florida Boeing Co. 737 struggled for altitude after taking off with ice in it engines and on the wings, struck the 14th Street bridge and then slammed into the frozen Potomac. Seventy four people who were aboard the plane were killed, and another four on the ground.
