American Airlines jet found upside down and in three pieces after mid-air collision in Washington DC
An American Airlines plane was found upside down and in three sections after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter over a major river in Washington DC.
A total of 28 bodies – 27 from the passenger plane and one from the helicopter – have been recovered from the Potomac River after the two aircraft fell into the icy waters around 9pm local time (2am UK time) on Wednesday night.
The American Airlines flight 5342, which had 60 passengers and four crew on board, was flying into the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from Wichita in Kansas, when the collision took place.
Washington crash latest: Follow live updates
The US army Black Hawk helicopter, which had three soldiers on board, was on a training flight at the time.
Authorities in the Potomac River. Pic: AP
An initial search and rescue mission to look for survivors has now become a recovery operation, Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly said in an update.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” he said.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors.”
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CCTV captures moment of mid-air collision
US Figure Skating, the national governing body for the sport in the US, said in a statement that several members of its skating community were on the passenger plane.
It said the athletes and coaches were returning home from a training camp in Kansas.
Doug Zeghibe, chief executive of The Skating Club of Boston, said he believes 14 skaters who were returning home from the National development Camp in Kansas were “lost” in the plane crash.
“Of those 14 skaters, six were from the Skating Club of Boston. Two coaches and two teenage athletes, and two of the athletes’ mums,” he said.
Championship figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov have been named by the Kremlin and Russian state media as two people who were on the plane.
Read more:
What we know so far about the collision
World champion skaters ‘on board’ – who were the passengers?
The married couple from Russia won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994.
Pic: Andrew Harnik/Getty
Pic: Andrew Harnik/Getty
The Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday morning: “Bad news from Washington today. We regret and offer condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in this plane crash.”
In a statement late on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump thanked first responders for their “incredible work”, and said he was “monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise”.
Championship figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. Pic: Colorsport/Shutterstock
He added: “May God Bless their souls.”
Vice president JD Vance also encouraged followers on social media to “say a prayer for everyone involved”.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy also sent their condolences to the families of those on board and the emergency responders.
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‘I need you to land’ – audio from crash
The Reagan Washington National Airport will remain closed until at least 11am today local time (4pm UK time).
Crash ‘absolutely preventable’
The collision occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the US Capitol.
Officials are yet to say what they believe caused the collision, with American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom saying they do not know why the military aircraft came into the path of the plane.
Transport secretary Sean Duffy said the wreckage of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.
Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Mr Duffy added he believes the crash was “absolutely preventable” and both aircraft were on “standard flight patterns” and had “standard communication” before the crash.
A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the American Airlines flight if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the pilots said they were able.
Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33.
Flight tracking sites showed the plane circled round to approach the new runway from the south, while the helicopter was approaching from the north.
The US army and the defence department has begun an investigation into the crash.
Pete Hegseth, who was sworn in as defence secretary only days ago, said it had been started “immediately”.
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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