A Tragedy Across America

DC Plane Collision

Photo by Ross Sokolovski on Unsplash

On Jan. 30, an American Airlines commercial jet collided mid-air with a United States Army Black Hawk helicopter. The plane took off from Wichita, Kan. carrying 64 people, and three U.S. soldiers were on board the helicopter. When the disaster struck, the plane was only half a mile short of runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. President Donald Trump confirmed there were no survivors after the collision. After the collision, both the plane and the helicopter crashed into the river.

Several members of the plane were a part of the U.S. figure skating community. The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed the plane’s black boxes, which contain flight data and voice recorders, have been recovered from the wreckage. An official investigation is underway. Currently, a recovery operation is ongoing and at least 14 people are still missing. This is the deadliest crash in the U.S. since 2001.