All 67 passengers of the plane and the military helicopter who crashed local time on Wednesday evening at the American capital Washington DC probably died. Fire brigade chief John Donnelly announced this on Thursday during a press conference. “We don’t think there are survivors of this accident. The rescue operation has now become a salvage operation. “
There were sixty passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines plane. The device collided with a military helicopter in which three soldiers were. After the crash, the plane and the helicopter were poured into the river Potomac. In the meantime, 27 bodies have been recovered from people who were on the plane. The body of one passenger of the helicopter was also salvaged
The plane was declining to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. That airport reopens on Thursday morning at 11 am local time (5 pm Dutch time). How the crash could happen is still unclear, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
At the press conference, the authorities want to “not speculate” about the circumstances. “Something has clearly happened,” says American transport Minister Sean Duffy. Although he says he is waiting for the investigation, Duffy assumes “absolutely” from the fact that the collision could be prevented. With that he communicates in line with US President Donald Trump, who wrote earlier in the day that it was “a bad situation” that “looks like they should have been avoided. Not good !!! ”.
‘Helicopter knew about plane’
“The helicopter knew that there was a plane nearby,” says Minister Duffy. Aviation websites previously published audio recordings of the communication of the air traffic control with the helicopter crew. It can then be heard that the helicopter was warned about the aircraft, which had already started the decline.
No response from the soldiers would have come to the repeated warnings. A few seconds later the collision would have taken place. Camera images of the nearby Kennedy Center show how the helicopter seems to be clashing on the plane. A large fire ball then forms in the air.
View images of the bang below: