A commercial plane with 64 people on board60 passengers and four crew, crashed on Wednesday night in the Potomac Rivernearly Washington. The flight, operated by American Airlines, had taken off from Wichita, Kansas, and headed to Reagan National Airport on the outskirts of the US capital, when he collided against a Army helicopter that transported Three crewas the authorities have reported.
At the moment, emergency teams have recovered more than Thirty bodies of the accident, as reported to NBC Washington two familiar sources with rescue work. However, authorities have not yet provided a official balance. The head of the Department of Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services of Washington, John Donnellyhe said that some 300 troops work under conditions “Extremely complex and dangerous“In search of survivors.
More than 30 recovered bodies
Police sources point out that they have recovered More than thirty corpses. Helicopters, police vessels and diving equipment continue to work on rescue work near the airport. However, the darkness, wind and icy water They hinder their work and meteorologists warn the risk of hypothermia. All these factors suggest that Search and rescue operations They last for several days and the authorities have not yet provided a Official Victims Balance.
Some of the passengers were Artistic skaters from the United States and Russia that returned from a training camp for young talents of the youth, intermediate and beginner categories. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri PeskovHe has confirmed that among the passengers there were also Russian skaters and other citizens of Russia.
The causes of the accident
The impact of the commercial plane, a Bombardier Crj700, against the military helicopter, a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk, resulted in a Fire ball SEguida of a smoke wake, as seen in a live camera of the John F. Kennedy center for the performing arts, located a few kilometers from the accident site.
The collision occurred at 20:47 local time and minutes later, at 20:53, several Washington emergency agencies received calls warning about the Fall of the aircraft in the river.
The sinister place
The passenger plane was traveling from WichitaKansas, towards Ronald Reagan National Airport, in Washington D.C.
The clash between the two aircraft occurred in the middle of the Potomac Riverright next to the airport, when the passenger plane was about to descend to the runway 33, according to Federal Aviation Administration.
The videos of the moment
Several live cameras captured the clash between the plane and the helicopter.
