‘No Survivors’ Expected in US Plane Crash

By Staff, Agencies

Emergency crews have recovered 28 bodies from the near-freezing river following the collision of an American Airlines jet carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three aboard near Reagan National Airport in Washington DC, according to Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly.

The official has confirmed that emergency crews are switching from a rescue mission to a recovery operation, adding that efforts are ongoing to return the victims’ remains to their families.

“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 told reporters.

First responders have been working in “extremely frigid conditions. They found heavy wind. They found ice on the water, and they’ve operated all night in those conditions,” according to Donnelly.

Families of victims are assured that all bodies from Wednesday night's crash will be recovered, with 67 believed dead, 64 from the passenger plane and three from the helicopter.

The crash was “absolutely preventable,” the newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters on Thursday.

He noted that the Black Hawk was on a training mission but emphasized that this does not imply the pilot was inexperienced.

Wednesday night’s crash was the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board.