American Airlines flight collides with helicopter near Washington's Reagan Airport, casualties feared

American Airlines flight collides with helicopter near Washington’s Reagan Airport, casualties feared

Posted by author January 30, 2025 World

Jan 30, 2025 08:58 AM IST

Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan Airport has suspended all aircraft take-offs and landings in response to the incident at the airfield

An American Airlines regional jet collided midair with a helicopter while landing at the Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, the Associated Press reported.

A view of emergency response, south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport where a helicopter collided with a passenger jet(Alex Brandon/AP)

The Federal Aviation Administration said the collision occurred around 9 pm ET when the regional jet, that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, smashed into the military Blackhawk helicopter while it was approaching the airport runway.

Washington Ronald Reagan Airport has suspended all aircraft take-offs and landings in response to the incident at the airfield, the airport operator said in a post on X.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that US President Donald Trump “has been made aware of this situation”. She added that “it appears that a military helicopter collided with a regional jet.”

US Senator Ted Cruz said there were fatalities in the crash, but it remains unclear how many people were onboard. “While we don’t yet know how many on board were lost, we know there are fatalities,” Cruz wrote on X.