On January 29, 2025 sometime before 9 p.m. near D.C. an American Airlines flight crashed into the Potomac River after colliding with a U.S. Army helicopter.
Officials had feared that all 67 individuals involved were dead, 60 passengers plus four members on the jet and three individuals on the Army Black Hawk helicopter. After finding 28 bodies, recovery efforts have been initiated by the emergency authorities.
“I was shocked by this situation, I think it would be interesting to see how the new secretaries will hand the
situations, especially with them being young,” social studies teacher Mr. Hayfield said.
President Trump , Secretary of the Army Daniel Drscoll, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, had all said it was seen that the crash could have been totally preventable. Driscoll added that as a team they may need to find a time that is appropriate to take a training risk, and most definitely not near Reagan airport.
There were athletes on board the American Airlines flight. There were 14 individuals from the figure skating community that were killed, which included six victims that were part and from the Skating Club of Boston. There were coaches on the flight who as well are dead.
“Obviously it's a very sad situation. I know that airspace around Reagan is always very busy and from what I understand it can be complicated for pilots to navigate. You have a crowded airport sandwiched between Arlington National Cemetery and all of the government buildings and monuments across the river, so there are lots of lights, restricted airspace, and constant landings and takeoffs. Hopefully the investigation they conduct will provide some more detail on what went wrong,” history teacher Mr. Fox said.
As of what is known at this time, there were no survivors according to President Donald Trump. This is the first major commercial airplane crash in the United States since the Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, New York, in
2009.
“I hope it was just an accident and not a terrorist attack, but training flight accidents do happen,” social studies teacher Mr. Hayfield continued.
