An American Airlines regional jet crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after colliding with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night. Authorities now say no survivors are expected due to the extremely cold and windy conditions.
The regional jet, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, was carrying 64 people, including 60 passengers and four crew members. It had departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was approaching the airport when the collision occurred around 9 p.m.
The military helicopter, which was on a training exercise out of Fort Belvoir, was carrying three service members. After an extensive rescue operation overnight, officials have shifted their efforts from rescue to recovery.
As of Thursday morning, 28 bodies have been recovered from the river. Twenty-seven were passengers on flight 5342, and one was a member of the helicopter crew. The cold water, with temperatures at just 42 degrees overnight, greatly impacted rescue operations, as people in such conditions would only have between 30 and 40 minutes to survive, according to experts.
Flight 5342 was headed to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) from Wichita, Kansas, and was in its final approach when it collided with the Black Hawk helicopter just over Southwest D.C., sending both aircraft into the Potomac. The helicopter had been on a training exercise when the collision occurred.
Among the passengers on the flight were several members of the U.S. Figure Skating community, including athletes, coaches, and their families, returning from the 2025 National Development Team Camp in Wichita. Two Russian figure skaters, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, both former world champions, were also on board. The couple, who were coaches at the Skating Club of Boston, were previously Olympic competitors and won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships.
