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A U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter [Sikorsky UH-60] and an American Airlines regional jet crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River at around 8:48 p.m. Wednesday night. The jet was in the process of landing at Reagan International Airport.
Chief of District of Columbia Fire Department John Donnelly gave the sad news, "we don't think there are any survivors from this accident.” The fact is, being that the water in the river is around 35 degrees F. the probability that anyone remains alive is practically zero.
“We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” the Chief added.
“Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” he also said.
"The district office of the medical examiner has lead on reuniting these bodies and these people, with their loved ones," Donnelly added, "and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them. and reunite them with their loved ones."
Aviation expert Kyle Bailey told Fox News Digital that "[I]t was a perfect storm of events [that happened last night]." He compared the tragic event to being struck by lightning and noted that it was "unfair to cast blame at this early stage."
“The U.S. military runs an incredible aviation operation,” he said. “But distractions do happen, and all humans make errors."
“We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” the Chief added.
“Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” he also said.
"The district office of the medical examiner has lead on reuniting these bodies and these people, with their loved ones," Donnelly added, "and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them. and reunite them with their loved ones."
Aviation expert Kyle Bailey told Fox News Digital that "[I]t was a perfect storm of events [that happened last night]." He compared the tragic event to being struck by lightning and noted that it was "unfair to cast blame at this early stage."
“The U.S. military runs an incredible aviation operation,” he said. “But distractions do happen, and all humans make errors."
One possible reason this tragedy may have occurred is that the military uses UHF frequencies to communicate while civilian aircraft use VHF (Very High Frequency) generally between 118 MHz and 137 MHz. There could have been a miscommunication or delay that interrupted the flow of information needed to avoid the collision. Of course, it's too soon to speculate as this is a recent event.
I sincerely hope much is learned from this tragedy as it is investigated by the NTSB and FAA.
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