US Plane-Helicopter Crash: No Hope for Survivors as Victims’ Bodies Recovered
The Washington DC Fire and EMS Department chief, John Donelly said it became clear that no one onboard the crashed passenger plane and a helicopter in Washington DC was likely to survive the crash.
A mid-air crash between a passenger plane and a helicopter occurred early Thursday morning on the Potomac River in Washington, near Ronald Reagan National Airport.
According to the BBC, 64 people were on the American Airlines flight, and three were on the Black Hawk military helicopter when the collision occurred.
Over 30 bodies have been removed from the wreckage as at the time of this report.
Several teenage figure skaters and their families, returning from an elite training camp in Wichita, two Chinese nationals and two former Russian world champions were among those on board the plane.
However, the US authorities have said they do not believe there are any survivors of the plane crash.
Donelly described the situation as an “extremely frigid” rescue condition for the emergency responders who have been working since the incident occurred.
He said the responders’ operation moved from “rescue” to “recovery” as it became clear that no one onboard the plane was likely to survive the crash.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
The US authorities said the plane broke into three pieces and fell into about 7ft of water in the river alongside the helicopter.
In his reaction, President Donald Trump said the mid-air collision could have been prevented.
Speculating the cause of the crash, he said, “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time.”
According to him, the passenger aeroplane had been on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport before the crash.
However, American Airlines’ chief executive, Robert Eisen, said the cause of the collision is still unknown.
“At this point we do not know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” he said, adding that the pilot was “experienced”, with six years at the airline.
The Ronald Reagan airport was temporarily closed following the crash.
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