Officials believe there are no survivors after a passenger plane, on approach to Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, collided Wednesday night with a US Army helicopter midair, sending both aircraft into the Potomac River below, a DC fire official said.
There were 64 people on board the plane and three soldiers in the Army helicopter, according to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.
First responders were battling cold and windy conditions Thursday as they worked to recover bodies from the Potomac in near-freezing temperatures.
The passenger plane was American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet was due to land at the airport Wednesday night when it collided midair with the US Army helicopter as it approached Runway 33, according to the FAA and defense officials.
The US Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a training flight at the time, Joint Task Force-National Capitol Region media chief Heather Chairez told CNN.
The crash is the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
