On Wednesday, January 29, at approximately 8:50 p.m., a tragic plane crash occurred. An American Airlines regional passenger jet flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. There were 64 people on the plane, and three U.S. Army soldiers were in the helicopter. The aircraft was approaching the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport until it crashed and went into the Potomac River.
Reports indicate that the collision occurred at an altitude of around 325 feet, just half a mile from the airport’s runway. In response to the accident, the FAA has restricted helicopter flights near Reagan National Airport and reduced the number of arrivals for safety.
According to Wikipedia, this was the first major U.S. commercial passenger flight crash in 16 years since Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009. This tragic American Airlines crash marks the deadliest U.S. air disaster in nearly 25 years.
The plane had 60 passengers and four crew members, including American and Russian figure skaters, coaches, and family members. According to ABC News, among the victims were 28 members of the figure skating community, 11 young skaters, 13 parents, and 4 coaches. A good handful of the passengers were returning home from a national figure skating development camp in Wichita, Kansas.
Rescue crews, including the Coast Guard and local emergency services, responded immediately. More than 300 regional first responders came to help rescue the people in the icy Potomac River. The river was a bloody pool, filled with parts from both aircraft’s and people’s bodies. Unfortunately, officials say 64 bodies were recovered, but there were no survivors.
Authorities are still investigating how and why the two aircraft collided. Reports indicate that air traffic control at Reagan National was operating with a single controller at the time, which could have led to miscommunication, causing the disaster. Normally, multiple people help control and direct the aircraft, but Reagan National was severely understaffed.
The Washington Post said, “Two people were handling the jobs of four among other colleagues inside National’s control tower at the time of the collision. The control tower staffing levels, the report concludes, were “not normal” for the time of day or the amount of air traffic over D.C., where an average of more than 100 helicopters a day zip around and underneath arriving and departing airline flights.”
Investigators aren’t the only ones talking about the aircraft controllers.
Trump blamed the air controllers and democrats for the crash. According to NBC News, “Trump explained that the Democrats were responsible for declining standards in air traffic control and “could have been” caused by diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Before this specific plane crash occurred, Trump signed an executive order restoring high standards for air traffic controllers and other important jobs throughout the country. Trump said live, “My administration will set highest possible bar for aviation safety. We have to have our smartest people. It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. It matters, intellect, talent, the word talent, they have to be talent.”
Since this plane crash occurred, there have appeared to be many unexpected plane crashes. Plane crashes are not common in United States airlines, but deadly crashes have appeared more recently.
According to Independent News, other plane crashes that have occurred since the American Airlines crash are “the fiery plane crash in Philadelphia and a plane lost in the Alaska wilderness are only the most high-profile disasters. There was also a Japan Airlines plane that clipped a parked Delta plane while it was taxiing at the Seattle airport earlier this week and a United Airlines plane caught fire during takeoff at the Houston airport Sunday after an engine problem sparked a fire on the wing.”
This has led to people being concerned about safety on planes. Although crashes are more common in smaller planes, hearing about these tragic events can increase fear and anxiety among people. It can also decrease trust in airlines but could increase safety measures.
Some people think that there haven’t been more plane crashes recently. The reason people are thinking that is because it is being shown in the media more. Do you think there have been more plane crashes, or is it just being shown a lot in the media?
