There are “no survivors” after an American Airlines jet carrying 64 people collided in mid-air with a military helicopter carrying three soldiers in Washington DC last night: the first fatal US air crash since 2009.
Experts are struggling to make sense of how one of the world’s most sophisticated airspace control systems was unable to prevent the tragedy. “These sorts of things don’t happen in the United States any more,” Geoffrey Thomas, an aviation consultant, told the BBC. It’s “perplexing”.
What did the commentators say?
The collision took place in “some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world”, three miles south of the White House, said The Guardian.
But the airspace is also very busy, with “debates over congestion” and “concerns at near-miss crashes” in recent years, said The New York Times.
It’s “not unusual” for military helicopters to be so close to commercial planes, former RAF pilot George Bacon told the BBC. But military pilots “can choose to fly where they want”, while civilian planes have to follow fixed flight paths. That means the onus was on the helicopter to avoid the plane.
Moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard asking the Black Hawk helicopter if it had the jet “in sight”, according to audio obtained by CNN. Other audio captures the helicopter pilot confirming that it had seen the aircraft. But “less than 13 seconds later”, there were “audible gasps”, apparently from the control tower, “at the moment of the crash”. What happened in between is “a mystery”.
President Donald Trump said the crash “should have been prevented”. “Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane?” he posted on his TruthSocial account. “NOT GOOD!!!”
What next?
Pete Hegseth, recently sworn in as Trump’s defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation had been “launched immediately” by the army and the defense department.
At least 28 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River so far.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors,” the Washington DC fire chief said.