Photo: AFP
WASHINGTON: Divers pulled bodies from the icy waters of Washington’s Potomac river Thursday after a US military helicopter collided midair with a passenger plane carrying 64 people, with officials saying there were likely no survivors.
As dawn broke over the crash site just three miles (five kilometers) from the White House, wreckage from both aircraft protruded from the water and emergency vessels and diving teams scoured the area.
“We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a news conference at Reagan National Airport.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors,” he said, adding that 28 bodies had been recovered so far — including one from the helicopter.
At least 300 first responders were involved in the operation — conducted in pitch darkness for several hours — with recovery teams discovering debris a mile downriver.
“These responders found extremely frigid conditions, they found heavy wind, they found ice on the water, and they operated all night,” Donnelly said.
There were no details on the cause of the crash, with transport officials saying both aircraft were on standard flight patterns on a clear night with good visibility.
Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac river, and the fuselage of the passenger jet was broken into three sections.
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 also on the jet.
The Bombardier plane operated by an American Airlines subsidiary, with 60 passengers and four crew on board, was approaching the airport at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT) after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.
