By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Multiple bodies were pulled from the water Wednesday night after an American Airlines passenger plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the Potomac River following a midair collision close to Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, several sources say.
At the White House, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced he had been briefed and was “closely monitoring the situation” following the disaster near Washington D.C.
The Pentagon also released a statement confirming that the aircraft involved was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Following Wednesday’s crash, American Airlines said 60 passengers, two pilots, and two crew members were on board American Airlines Flight 5342.
Officials said three soldiers were on board the helicopter during a training flight.
Witnesses said the passenger plane was seen in pieces in the river while the helicopter was in the water nearby. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on social media that “we know there are fatalities,” though he did not immediately say how many.
PULLED ALIVE
Yet U.S. broadcaster NBC reported that amid the reported death and destruction, at least four people had been miraculously pulled alive from the Potomac River.
Worthy News reviewed a video from the Kennedy Center showing a helicopter and another aircraft colliding near Reagan National Airport on the evening of January 29. Shortly after the crash, a huge flash of light could be seen above Washington, D.C.
Several sources confirmed that all takeoffs and landings were halted at Reagan National Airport shortly after the disaster.
There has not been a similar U.S. passenger airplane accident since February 2009, but a series of near-miss incidents in recent years have raised serious safety concerns.
Wednesday’s collision raised fresh questions. It happened in perhaps the world’s most monitored airspace since the September 11, 2021, terror attacks when one plane crashed into the nearby Pentagon building.
Two other planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and one in a rural Pennsylvania field during a passenger revolt against the hijackers at the time.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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