The midair collision of an American Eagle-branded regional jet and a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter near Washington, DC may be the first fatal crash involving a US airline since the 2009 crash of a Colgan Air-operated regional jet that killed 50 people.
No fatalities have been yet been reported from the 29 January collision, which occurred over the frozen Potomac River, though a major search and rescue effort is underway, confirms the DC Fire and EMS Department.
American Airlines confirms there were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the PSA Airlines-operated MHIRJ CRJ700 involved in the accident.
PSA is wholly owned regional subsidiary of American.
”Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft,” American says. ”We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts.”
It is unclear how many people were aboard the H-60, though the minimum crew in the standard UH-60 utility configuration used by the US Army is two pilots and one crew chief, and the type can carry up to four crew members and 12 seated troops. Variants of the H-60 are also operated by the US Navy and US Air Force.
Though several close calls at busy airport hubs in the Northeast USA have caused alarm in recent months, US airlines have enjoyed a long run without a major commercial aviation accident.
The last major accident occurred in February 2009 when the pilots of a Colgan Air-operated De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 lost control on approach to Buffalo, New York and entered a stall from which they did not recover.
The regional turboprop was operating in icing conditions from shortly after take-off until the accident on final approach, according to FlightGlobal’s archives. The aircraft crashed into a residential area of Buffalo, killing 49 passengers and crew and one person inside a house.
In its ensuing investigation, the US National Transportation Safety Board attributed the accident to a loss of situational awareness by the Dash 8’s pilots.
