The head of the Fire Department of the Columbia district, John Donnelly, has ruled out the existence of Survivors in the air accident last night, which involved a flight from American Airlines in which 64 people and an army helicopter in which three soldiers were traveling.
“At the moment, we do not believe that there are survivors of this accident. And we have recovered 27 people (lifeless) of the plane and one of the helicopter,” Donnelly reported at a press conference with other authorities, at Ronald Reagan National Airport , in Washington.
Donnelly has highlighted the efforts made during the last hours, in the midst of very adverse climatic conditions, and has lamented that the current point has gone from being “a rescue operation to a recovery.”
“Rescuers found extremely cold conditions, strong winds, ice in the water and have operated all night in those conditions,” he said in relation to the work on the Potomac River, promising that the authorities will do everything possible until the rest recovers of corpses.
Trump’s reaction
Donald Trump has pointed out that the incident “It seems that it should have been avoided“, since” the night is clear, “and has pointed to the helicopter because” he was directly to the plane for a long period of time. “
“Why didn’t the helicopter go up, or come down, or turn? Posted in its social truth platform.
The American vice president, JD Vance, has asked citizens to “pray, please, for all those involved in the collision in full flight.” “Please, pray for all those involved in the collision in full flight near the Reagan airport this afternoon. We are following the situation closely, but for now we hope that everything goes well,” he said through his profile on the social network X.
The Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, has announced that it is displaying “all the available resources of the Coast Guard for search and rescue tasks.” “We are actively monitoring the situation and we are ready to support local emergency services. We pray for victims and lifeguards,” he added.
The governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, explained that his emergency management team and the State Police, which have been informed “of the tragic accident that occurred tonight”, is using “broad resources to support search and rescue tasks.” “Emergency teams from all over the north of Virginia, DC and Maryland have quickly mobilized,” he said.
For his part, the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has been “deeply sad” by the news. “Please, join me to pray for all those involved, as well as our lifeguards,” he said.
Ronald Reagan National Airport is located in the American County of Arlington, in the state of Virginia, and is the commercial airport closest to Washington. Virginia and Washington are separated by the Potomac River.
