Washington (Web Desk/Agencies): A tragic crash occurred on Wednesday when an American Airlines regional flight collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, resulting in no survivors.
The crash took place in the icy waters of the Potomac River, near Reagan National Airport.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the airplane, while the helicopter was carrying three soldiers.
This disaster marks the deadliest aviation incident in the US since 2001, when a crash involving an American Airlines jet claimed 265 lives.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin confirmed that most of the victims' bodies have been recovered, though authorities are still working on identifying all of them.
Among the passengers on the flight were ice skaters, including Russian-born former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were returning from an event in Kansas.
The plane had been preparing to land when it collided with the helicopter, which had been conducting a training flight.
While there were no communication failures between the air traffic controllers and the aircraft, the crowded airspace near the capital has been a source of concern for officials for some time.
The proximity of commercial and military air traffic, along with a shortage of air traffic controllers, has raised alarm.
The investigation into the cause of the crash continues, with one of the flight's black boxes already recovered.
Air traffic control recordings capture the final exchanges between the controller and the helicopter, which was advised to avoid the commercial jet before the collision occurred at about 300 feet, mere moments before the aircraft were to land.
While President Trump expressed his own views on the cause of the crash, attributing it to changes in air traffic control hiring practices, his remarks were met with skepticism by officials who stressed that the cause remained unclear.
Meanwhile, defense officials indicated that there may have been an issue with the Black Hawk's altitude, though the investigation is still in the early stages.
The crash serves as a tragic reminder of the complexity and danger of air travel, particularly in high-traffic regions.
