An American Airlines plane with 60 passengers and four crew members onboard collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, plunging into the Potomac River.

Washington’s Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said Thursday morning that 28 bodies were recovered from the scene: 27 passengers from the jet and one from the helicopter.

“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” Donnelly said, adding that first responders were “switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”

The commercial flight from Wichita, Kan., was making its approach to Reagan National Airport when the collision occurred shortly before 9 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Black Hawk helicopter — operating out of Fort Belvoir, Va., with a crew of three — was on a training mission, according to the Defense Department.

Ronald Reagan National Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. ET, officials said.

Live15 updates

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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM GMT+8
• Ilia Malinin, the reigning world and national men’s figure skating champion, mourned those who died in Wednesday night’s plane crash, confirming he was not on the flight that collided with a helicopter over the Potomac River.
• “I hope and pray for everyone who was on that flight is ok. God Bless,” the 20-year-old wrote in an Instagram Story.
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• Credit: Katie Mather/Yahoo News
• Malinin won his third national title last weekend at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan. It is not clear whether he is still in Wichita or had already traveled back to the Washington, D.C., area before this flight. He lives and trains in the northern Virginia area.
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 10:18 PM GMT+8
• At a press conference in Wichita, Kan., Thursday morning, the city’s mayor, Lily Wu, said officials were “still learning minute-by-minute” details about the crash involving the American Airlines flight from Wichita to Washington.
• “Our hearts are heavy,” Wu said. “Our hearts are heavy as a city.”
• Wu said that she had been informed overnight that there were no survivors.
• “We mourn with all those who have been impacted,” she said, her voice cracking. “This is a terrible tragedy that will unite those in Washington, D.C., and Wichita, Kan., forever.”
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 10:10 PM GMT+8
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 10:05 PM GMT+8
• At the press conference, American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said the pilot and co-pilot of the plane that collided with the military aircraft were “experienced.”
• “These were experienced pilots,” Isom said.
• He said the captain, who he did not identify, had been with the airline for six years, and the co-pilot about two years.
• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he did not have information about the experience of crew members aboard the military helicopter other than it was classified as a “training mission.” But he cautioned that such a classification does not mean the crew members were inexperienced.
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:41 PM GMT+8
• American Airlines has a hotline available for people who believe they may have had friends or family on the 60-passenger aircraft that was meant to land at Reagan Airport on Wednesday night.
• “If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215,” the airline said in a post on its website
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:40 PM GMT+8
• During an overnight press conference in Washington, D.C., Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran said the plane crash was very “personal” for him for multiple reasons.
• “I know that flight,” Moran said. “I’ve flown it many times myself.”
• The American Airlines plane was en route to Washington from Wichita, Kan., when it collided with the military helicopter on its approach to Reagan National Airport.
• “I lobbied American Airlines to begin having a direct, nonstop flight service to DCA,” Moran said of the route, which has been operating for about a year.
• He added: “It is certainly true that in Kansas, and in Wichita in particular, we’re going to know people who are on this flight, know their family members, know somebody. So this is a very personal circumstance.”
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:29 PM GMT+8
• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that authorities have located both aircraft involved in the crash.
• The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was found “inverted” in the Potomac River and “located in three different sections in about waist-deep water,” Duffy said.
• Recovery of the fuselage was underway, he said.
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM GMT+8
• Taking questions from reporters at the press conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that it is not unusual to have military helicopters and commercial aircraft operating in the same area.
• “It is not standard to have aircraft collide, I want to be clear on that,” Duffy said. “But the flight paths that were being flown by the military and American — that was not unusual for what happens in the D.C. airspace.”
• Earlier in the press conference, Duffy was asked if he can guarantee to the American public that the U.S. still has the safest airspace in the world.
• “The answer to that is, absolutely, yes we do,” Duffy said.
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:10 PM GMT+8
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• Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue crews search the waters of the Potomac River. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:09 PM GMT+8
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. ET today, Jack Potter, the CEO of Washington’s airport authority, said.
• Hundreds of flights in and out of the airport on Thursday were canceled, according to FlightAware.
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:08 PM GMT+8
• Figure skaters from the United States and Russia were among the 64 people onboard the commercial jet, U.S. figure skating and Russian officials said.
• U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body that oversees the sport, said in a statement that numerous athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
• “We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” Alex Schauffler, the communications director for U.S. Figure Skating, said in the statement.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian figure skaters as well as other Russian citizens were among those on the plane.
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 9:01 PM GMT+8
• President Trump weighed in on the tragedy early Thursday morning. Trump argued that the military helicopter should have been given clear guidance to avoid the plane.
• “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after midnight ET. “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. 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 added: “NOT GOOD!!!”
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM GMT+8
• At the press conference Thursday morning, American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom said his “sole focus” was to support families of the victims of the mid-air collision.
• “We’re absolutely heartbroken for the families and loved ones, passengers and crew members and also for those who were on the military aircraft,” Isom said. “This is devastating. We are all hurting.”
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 8:53 PM GMT+8
• D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly told reporters that 28 bodies have been collected from the scene so far. Sixty passengers and four crew members were on the passenger plane, according to American Airlines; three soldiers were on the helicopter, according to the Army.
• “We have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter,” Donnelly said.
• “The District Office of the Medical Examiner has lead on reuniting these bodies and these people with their loved ones, and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones.”
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• Thu, January 30, 2025 at 8:46 PM GMT+8
• District of Columbia Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said at a press conference that officials don’t believe there were any survivors from the collision.
• “We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” Donnelly said.