Jan. 30 (UPI) — D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said during a press conference Thursday morning there were no survivors in the crash between and American Airlines jet and a military helicopter.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident and we have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” Donnelly said.
About 300 first responders worked the crash in harsh conditions, heavy wind, ice on the water and they operated all night in those conditions. Donnelly said several local and state agencies responded in addition to Washington first responders and the Department of Defense.
Donnelly said responders will continue to work to find all the bodies from the crash. He said the Virginia and Army medical examiners are involved in the effort to retrieve and identify the bodies of the victims.
“We have located the two aircrafts. The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted. It’s been located in three different sections. It’s in about waist-deep water,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
He said the government will not rest until it gets answers for the families and for the flying public about what caused an airliner to collide with a military helicopter.
Despite this deadly crash, Americans have the safest airports in the world, Duffy added.
“I will tell you with complete confidence, we have the safest airspace in the world,” he said.
WashingtonMayor Muriel Bowser said first responders “worked throughout the night in very tough and heartbreaking conditions.”
She expressed sorrow for the families who lost loved ones.
American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, collided with a Blackhawk military helicopter when the chopper entered the airliner’s landing path as it approached Reagan National Airport about 9 p.m. local time Wednesday.
Duffy said prior to the collision the flight paths of the two aircraft weren’t unusual for what happens in the Washington airspace. He said everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash.
He said with the investigation authorities and the public will learn what happened.
“Something went wrong here,” Duffy said, “I look forward to the time we can give you that information.”
President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been “fully briefed” on the crash.
“May God bless their souls,” Trump wrote. “Thank you to the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
Reagan National Airport plans to reopen at 11 a.m. EST Thursday. according to Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter.
“We’re going to open the airport at 11:00 It’s safe,” Potter said. “We have worked with all the federal agencies — FAA, and it’s been determined that we can open that airport safely. The recovery effort that’s on our property is on the waterfront. Our primary runway, 119, will be open.”
He said it’s away from any recovery and investigation activity with a secure area around that.
Potter said each airline will announce or communicate to their passengers what their operations are going to be. He said airport networks were disrupted overnight and recovery from that might be slow.
“There are going to be a lot of questions, obviously, a lot of questions. And that’s what the NTSB’s job is, to be an independent investigator of incidents like this. It’s not a time to speculate, it’s a time to get answers that we need,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.
Recovery operations are ongoing and the crash area is spread out in the Potomac River.
“I want to express my sincere condolences for the accident that happened at DCA last night. We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones of the passengers and crew members and also for those that were on the military aircraft,” American Airlines CEO Robert Eisen said.
“Our focus right now is to doing everything that we can to support all of those involved and also the PSA Airlines team. This is devastating. We are all hurting incredibly.”