Media: DC plane crash likely deadliest on US soil in over two decades

The tragic crash of an American Airlines plane in Washington, DC, is on track to become the deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the United States in more than two decades.

Authorities confirmed that there were likely no survivors from the wreck, which occurred late January 29 when an American Airlines jet collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter while attempting to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, Caliber.Az reports citing foreign media.

At least 28 bodies have already been recovered from the frigid Potomac River, where the wreckage of the American Airlines aircraft, carrying 64 people, was found. First responders are still combing the area, but officials have expressed grave concern, stating that they do not expect to find any survivors.

If all passengers and crew are confirmed dead, this incident would become the deadliest commercial aviation crash in the US since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed into a residential area in New York City, killing all 260 people on board. That crash occurred in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The last major fatal crash involving a commercial airline occurred near Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009. A Colgan Air plane, carrying 45 passengers and four crew members, crashed near Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing everyone aboard and an additional person on the ground.

Prior to these incidents, notable crashes included a Comair aircraft disaster in Lexington, Kentucky, on August 27, 2006, which claimed the lives of two crew members and 47 passengers, and an Alaska Airlines crash in January 2000, in which 83 passengers and five crew died when the aircraft plunged into the Pacific Ocean.

Regarding the current DC tragedy, authorities have now officially transitioned from a rescue operation to a recovery mission. Fire Chief John Donnelly of Washington, DC, stated during a news conference, “We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. We don’t believe there are any survivors.”

The wreckage of the American Airlines aircraft, which was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The helicopter wreckage, which had three soldiers aboard, was also located nearby.

The cause of the collision is still under investigation, but officials confirmed that flight conditions were clear when the American Airlines jet, en route from Wichita, Kansas, was making a routine landing. The helicopter, however, flew into the plane's path during its descent.

By Vafa Guliyeva