(30 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++SOUNDBITES SEPARATED BY WHITE FLASHES++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Arlington, Virginia – 30 January 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Chief John Donnelly, Washington DC Fire and EMS:
"Very quickly, this call escalated. It became, you know, the responders realized that they had a plane crash and immediately escalated to a response that ultimately included about 300 people last night. These responders found extremely frigid conditions. They found heavy wind. They found ice on the water and they operated all night in those conditions."
++WHITE FLASH++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Chief John Donnelly, Washington DC Fire and EMS:
"Despite all his efforts, 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. And we have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter. The district office of the medical examiner has lead by 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. "
++WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sean Duffy, U.S. Transportation Secretary:
"So we are going to wait for all the information to come in from from this vantage point. But to to back up what the president said, what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, officials said Thursday.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the midair collision Wednesday night when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said.
Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.
The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport.
Asked about President Donald Trump suggesting in an overnight social media post that the collision could have been prevented, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, “Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.
Duffy also said passengers should be assured that flying is safe.
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