All passengers are feared dead after American Eagle Flight 5342, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, collided with an army helicopter in midair near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., last night, with 14 skaters believed to be among the victims, NBC News reports, UNN reports.
Details
At least 28 bodies were recovered from the water. Of those, 27 were from a civilian American Eagle airplane and one from a Black Hawk helicopter, said Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly. Several medical examiner's offices are working to identify the victims, and the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is leading efforts to reunite the bodies with their loved ones.
"We will continue to work to locate all bodies, collect them and reunite them with their loved ones," Donnelly said.
Fourteen skaters are believed to have died in a mid-air collision over the Potomac River, said Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zegibe.
"This is a great loss for our skating community," Zegibe told reporters in Norwood, Massachusetts.
Six of the victims of Wednesday night's tragedy were affiliated with the Skating Club of Boston: two coaches, two skaters and two mothers, according to Zegibe.
According to a source at the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, no black boxes have been found at the crash site.
A black box is a flight data recorder that records information from an aircraft and its route.
Addendum
The two planes crashed into the Potomac River, where the rescue operation turned into a large-scale recovery operation, and dozens of bodies have been recovered from the icy water.
The regional jet was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, its parent company American Airlines said.
The US Army's Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three people, said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
According to U.S. Figure Skating, the passenger plane was carrying American skaters, coaches and their families who were camping in Wichita. Russian state media confirmed that Russian skaters and coaches were also on board.