American Airlines Crash in D.C. Is the Deadliest U.S. Aircraft Incident Since 9/11

Mar. 15, 2025

Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue crews search the waters of the Potomac River after a passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river after colliding with a U.S. Army helicopter, on Jan. 30, 2025.Photo:ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

Officials have announced that they don’t believe there are any survivors inthe Wednesday, Jan. 29 midair collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopterin Washington D.C., —which would make it the deadliest aviation disasterin the U.S. since 2001, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

At the time, there were60 passengers and four crew memberson board the jet, according to a statement from American Airlines.

There were also three soldiers onboard the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, a U.S. Army official confirmed toCNN.

As theAssociated Pressnoted, deadly crashes involving commercial aircraft are rare. However, there have been notable incidents in the last 24 years beginning with 9/11, when19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planesand intentionally crashed two of them into the north and south towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City.

Another plane struck the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. — while the hijacked passengers on Flight 93 fought back, resulting in the downing of that plane into an empty in western Pennsylvania.

In all, nearly 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Two months after 9/11, on Nov. 12, 2001,American Airlines Flight 587 bound for the Dominican Republic crashed in Belle Harbor, N.Y., following its takeoff from Kennedy International Airport. The incident claimed the lives of 260 people who were on the plane and five people on the ground. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the accident was the result of “the in-flight separation of the vertical stabilizer and subsequent loss of control,” the FAA reported.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

During a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30, about the collision involving the American Airlines jet and the Army helicopter, Washington, D.C., Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly announced that 27 bodies were recovered from the plane and one from the chopper.

“The District Office of the Medical Examiner has led on reuniting these bodies and these people with their loved ones and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones,” he added.

“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.,” the Jan. 30 statement read.

“These athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan.,” the governing body added.

source: people.com