Washington Plane Collission With Helicopter: Rescue Operators Recover 18 Bodies from Washington River
Olufemi Orunsola
Monitored reports from internatiibal media monitored by OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News have it that a passenger jet carrying 64 people crashed into Washington’s Potomac River on Wednesday after colliding midair with a military helicopter, with no fewer than 18 bodies reportedly pulled from the dark, near-freezing water.
OTN News gathered that massive search and rescue operation has been in motion, with divers visible in the glare of powerful lights as they plunged into the snow-lined Potomac to scour the wreckage of both aircraft.
Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a press briefing that emergency crews, totalling about 300 people, were working in “extremely rough” conditions and gave little indication they expected to find anyone alive.
"We’re going to be out there as long as it takes,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.
According to local sources, CBS News said at least 18 bodies had been recovered, while NBC reported more than a dozen.
US Figure Skating said several athletes, coaches and officials were aboard the flight, while officials in Moscow confirmed married Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov — who won the 1994 world pairs title — were on the jet.
"We unfortunately see that these sad reports are being confirmed. Our other fellow citizens were there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Bombardier plane, operated by an American Airlines subsidiary, was approaching Reagan National Airport at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT) after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.
US Army officials said the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk carrying three soldiers on a “training flight”.
OTN News further gathered that a witness, Ari Schulman, was driving home when he saw what he described as “a stream of sparks” overhead.
He told the CNN that, "Initially, I saw the plane, and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land."
“Three seconds later, and at that point, it was banked all the way to the right… I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it,” Schulman added.
“It looked like a Roman candle.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said in an official statement that he had been “fully briefed” and added of any victims, “may God bless their souls.”
Less than four hours after the disaster — and while other officials stressed they were waiting for investigations to unfold — he took to social media to critique air traffic control.
“The aeroplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the aeroplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Why didn’t the helicopter go up or down or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane? This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
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