Witnesses Recall What They Heard and Saw During American Airlines Crash: 'Like a Giant Roman Candle'

Mar. 15, 2025

Emergency equipment stages at Gravelly Point, north of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, along the Potomac River, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Arlington, Va.Photo:AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Several witnesses are speaking out after seeing smoke and sparks in the air as anAmerican Airlines plane collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopteron its approach to the airport.

American Airlines said64 people were onboardAmerican Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, D.C., when it collided with the PSA Airlines flight over the Potomac River on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Multiple people witnessed the crash from various angles. Abadi Ismail, 38, said he was “getting ready to go to bed” when he heard an unusual “bang bang” sound, according toReutersandNBC News.

“[It was] something you don’t hear on a daily basis. It’s more like a war zone … So that caught my attention,” he recalled.

Ismail then “looked at the sky” and saw smoke coming from the south side of Reagan National Airport. “Horrendous. Unbelievable. Shocking,” he said.

A helicopter uses a spotlight on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va.AP Photo/Alex Brandon

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Another witness, Courtney Cain, 28, said she saw a flash after hearing a bang as well near her home at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, according toThe Washington Post.

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Jimmy Mazeo was having dinner with his girlfriend at a park near the airport when he saw what appeared to be a “white flare” in the air, according toBBC News.

“We thought they were, like, shooting stars … but we didn’t really think much of it,” Mazeo explained. He then noticed planes had diverted from their normal landing patterns.

A short time later, they spotted first responders racing to the scene. “It was insane,” Mazeo said.

Emergency response teams including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others, asses airplane wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia.Andrew Harnik/Getty

Andrew Harnik/Getty

Ari Schulman, a journalist, was driving home to Alexandria, Va., on the George Washington Memorial Parkway when he saw the aftermath of the crash near the airport.

In a series ofposts on X, Schulman recalled seeing “a huge steak of sparks” coming from underneath a jet that “was banked far, far to the right.”

“In that moment they looked to me like a giant Roman candle. But they were spreading out north to south, from the head to the tail of the plane,” Schulman described. He also noted that “the plane was about 100 feet above the ground” at  the time.

Schulman said he looked away for two seconds, and did not see the plane when he looked back. As he headed home, hesaw a police carracing toward the airport and realized the string of plane lights he had been watching were gone.

He later learned what he saw was the fatal collision of the American Airlines plane and the Black Hawk helicopter. “I wish I had not seen this,”Schulman wrote. “Let us all pray for many survivors.”

However, Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said in a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30 that authorities “don’t believe there are any survivorsfrom this accident."

Boats work the scene on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va.AP Photo/Julio Cortez

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Among the victims are 14 U.S. figure skaters, including six members of The Skating Club of Boston, CEO Doug Zeghibe announced at a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30.

The victims from The Skating Club of Boston have been identified as two teens, Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, their mothers, Molly Lane and Jin Han, and two coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, former Russian world champions.

“We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” Donnelly explained, adding that they will “continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones.”

source: people.com