4 hours ago
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WASHINGTON: Sixty seven people were feared dead after an
American Airlines passenger jet
collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.
Sixty passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet flying from Wichita in Kansas, while the chopper was carrying three soldiers on an annual proficiency training flight.
The crash site was reported to be barely miles from White House and Pentagon.
"We have been told there are no survivors," Wichita mayor Lily Wu said. Twenty eight bodies had been recovered from the river till reports last came in.
It's not known what led to the crash - the deadliest US air disaster since Nov 12, 2001 - considering radio communications between ATC and the Black Hawk showed its crew knew the plane was in the vicinity. "Everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash," US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said. "Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely."
'Army copter was being operated on training flight by experienced crew'
The US army helicopter that collided with a passenger jet was being operated on a training flight by a "fairly experienced crew" with night-vision goggles, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, as the Pentagon ordered a 48-hour pause in flying for the Virginia-based unit involved. In addition, Daniel Driscoll, President Trump's nominee for army secretary, told a Senate hearing that the crash appears to have been preventable, and he raised questions about whether training should take place near a busy airport. Hegseth saidthat there appears to have been an elevation issue with the Black Hawk, and said army investigators were on the ground looking into the matter. REUTERS
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