All 67 people on board an American Army plane and a jet were killed in a midair collision on Thursday, according to authorities. In what is the region’s deadliest aviation accident in roughly 25 years, investigators are looking into the military pilot’s actions.
At least 40 bodies were found early on Thursday evening from the Potomac River, where the helicopter is thought to have entered the path of a regional American airline jet late on Wednesday ( local time ). According to authorities, the aircraft crashed as it made an emergency landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, which is across the river from Washington. The aircraft carried 60 travellers and four staff members, while three soldiers were on the Army aircraft.
At a White House press conference, US President Donald Trump claimed that there were no victims.
” We are now at the place where we are switching from a rescue operation to a healing operation”, said John Donnelly, the fire chief in Washington, DC.
The White House and Capitol, one of the most closely watched locations in the world, collided before 9 p.m. in aircraft close to the White House and Capitol.
Federal prosecutors declined to speculate on the cause of the air fall, which officials claimed could take weeks.
How’s what is known about the subjects
The victims included young figure ( more than 12 ) athletes, their parents, and their mentors, an Ohio college student returning from her father’s funeral, two Chinese citizens, and a group of hunting coming up from a vacation in Kansas.
Daughter of an American expatriate among the victims of the Washington aircraft crash
Asra Hussain Raza, 26, was one of the patients who died, CNN reported.
Hussain Raza, the child of Indian refugees, graduated with honors from Indiana University in 2020 and married her school girlfriend in August 2023, her father-in-law Hashim Raza was quoted as saying by CNN.
She worked as a specialist in Washington, DC, and traveled to Wichita half a month for a medical turn job, her father-in-law said.
Find skaters and instructors
One of the 14 members of the skating group who died was two young find athletes, their mother, and two former world leaders who were coaching at a storied Boston team.
The Skating Club of Boston confirmed that Spencer Lane and Jinna Han were both among those who passed away. Their mother, Jin Han and Christine Lane, as well as their instructors Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Russia, even lost their lives, said membership CEO Doug Zeghibe.
Han and Lane, who was about 16, had been returning from the US Figure Skating Championships.
More young players and coaches
Other young riders were on the trip, according to skating companies in Philadelphia and the surrounding area.
Many athletes on committee had attended a development station held after the US Figure Skating Championships, which ended Sunday in Wichita, Kansas.
Two Taiwanese citizens among subjects
Beijing announced on Friday that two Chinese citizens were among the subjects of the air collision in Washington.
A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry said that “preliminary validation” confirmed the deaths of two Chinese people in the crash.
China offers its apologies to the patients and its sincere sympathies to their families, according to the director.
China has requested from the US to provide updates on the search and rescue efforts, immediately identify the accident’s cause, and manage related issues correctly, according to the director.
