He Flight 5342 of American Eagle -Subsidiary regionalaerolínea of American Airlines-, from Wichita (Kansas) I was doing the approach to the airport Ronald Reagan by Washington DC When at 8:48 p.m., Wednesday’s local time collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter in which three people were traveling.
The mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowserhe pointed out that the two devices fell to the Potomac River, on whose shore a strong device was displayed with about 300 emergency units with firefighters, police cars and ambulances, as well as rescue boats and diving units.
The governor did not want to rule on him eventual number of victims. According to the CNN chain, police sources have confirmed that there are fatalities and that rescuers have not yet taken from the river any survivor, something that is complicated with the passing of the hours because the temperatures at the time of the accident was about four Celsius degrees.
The moment of air accident in Washington
The video of the moment in which the helicopter and passenger plane have already circulated in social networks:
“We feel very much the families that are suffering losses. We want it to be known that we will continue working with American Airlines to share information as frequently as possible and make sure we get accurate information, “said Bowser specifying that the work will continue the necessary time.
The president and CEO of the Washington Metropolitan Airports, Jack Potterhe stressed in that same appearance that the efforts are currently focused on the rescue: “Right now we are in rescue mode and we will continue in that mode,” he said that this effort will last “many hours.”
The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffywho has only one day in office, said he has been in contact with the president Donald Trump From the accident and offered “all support” and announced that the National Board of Transportation Security (NTSB) is already conducting an investigation of what happened.
The Black Hawk helicopter accident and the Bombardier Crj7, the First of a commercial plane in more than a decade in the United Stateswill keep the Reagan airport closed in Washington until Thursday at noon.
Follow the rescue operation for air clash
The authorities in charge of the rescue after the clash while admitting that The deployment operates in complicated conditions by the cold and will extend throughout the night and the necessary timewithout being informed of survivors.
“It is a very complex operation. The conditions are extremely hard for lifeguards. It is cold and are dealing with relatively summary conditions. The wind is strong in the river, “John Donnelly, head of the Washington Emergency Service, said at a press conference.
