An eyewitness has detailed a harrowing account of the Washington plane collision this morning, which saw a passenger aircraft carrying 64 people crash over the Potomac River.
The incident occurred when American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA from Wichita, Kansas, struck a military helicopter that was carrying three crew members.
30 bodies have been recovered from the river so far, making it the deadliest US airline crash since 2009.
Speaking to GB News eyewitness Matthew Capucci said: “I can tell you the conditions are pretty rough for rescue operations. Water temperatures around one and a half to two degrees Celsius.
Matthew Capucci detailed the “unsettling” incident
GB News
“There are chunks of ice floating down the river. Last night the winds were strong as well. So really hypothermia can set in after five or ten minutes under those conditions.
“The fact that there still haven’t been any survivors confirmed make it tough not to fear for the worst.”
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He added: “Everyone around here knows the airspace is incredibly busy. The airport itself is very busy.
“Then you have the White House over here, airplanes and helicopters taking off and landing there, multiple military bases.
“It’s sort of like a 3D jigsaw puzzle. And inevitably when you have that many moving parts, things become a little more complicated and the risk of a crash increases.”
Speaking about the incident he said: “It was sort of unsettling. We live right next to the airport. Ordinarily, you’d hear airplanes taking off and landing at nine, ten at night. And yet the sky was eerily quiet”
30 bodies have been recovered from the river so far
Getty
The airport halted all takeoffs and landings as emergency personnel responded to the incident.
Multiple agencies joined the emergency response, including helicopters from the US Park Police, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and US Military.
Police boats were massed in the water near a military base on the east side of the Potomac River.
Emergency workers from across Virginia and Maryland converged on the riverbank, with emergency vehicle lights visible along both shores.
Matthew Capucci said that there was “chunks of ice” floating down the river yesterday
GB News
Vice President J.D. Vance called for prayers for those involved in the collision on social media platform X.
Former President Donald Trump called the crash “preventable” in a statement on Truth Social.
“Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented,” Trump wrote.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering more information about the incident.