A PANIC-stricken husband whose spouse was onboard the doomed American Airways jet has revealed the final textual content she despatched him moments earlier than the lethal crash.
The tragedy occurred simply earlier than 9pm when the aircraft crashed with a helicopter mid-air in Washington DC.
Stunning pictures present the jet that plunged into Potomac River cut up in two.
Horror CCTV from the Kennedy Middle confirmed the second the plane burst into flames.
All 64 individuals onboard – 60 passengers and 4 crew – are feared useless.
A distressed husband, whose 26-year-old spouse was on the aircraft mentioned his final contact together with his spouse was only a few minutes earlier than the crash.
Hamaad Raza informed WUSA from close to Reagan Nationwide Airport: “She texted me that they had been touchdown in 20 minutes.”
He then confirmed undelivered messages on his cellphone saying “That’s once I realized one thing was up.”
He added: “I’m simply praying that somebody is pulling her out of the river proper now. That’s all I can pray for.”
He mentioned his spouse had gone to Wichita for work however admitted she by no means felt snug flying.
The person alongside one other household member are desperately ready for updates at Terminal 2 at Reagan Airport.
The airport is ready to stay closed till no less than 11am.
The tragedy occurred on Wednesday night time when American Eagle Flight 5342 from Kansas was approaching Runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Worldwide Airport when it crashed with a US Military Black Hawk helicopter.
Horror CCTV from the Kennedy Middle confirmed the second the plane burst into flames after crashing within the air.
Officers mentioned there are “many, many, many” individuals useless, however haven’t confirmed the tragic toll.
A legislation enforcement supply informed CBS that no less than 19 our bodies have been pulled from the river to this point.
It comes as…
Emergency providers are on the scene frantically scouring for survivors within the freezing waters.
The airport’s hearth chief saying the operation will final “many hours”.
Chilling audio from air visitors management has revealed the ultimate communications between the plane and air visitors management.
Flight monitoring knowledge seems to point out the aircraft was at an approximate altitude of 300ft when it crashed.
Lower than 30 seconds earlier than the crash, one controller requested the helicopter if it may see the aircraft.
The controller made one other name to the chopper simply moments later, saying: “PAT 25 move behind the CRJ.”
However seconds later, the aircraft and helicopter crashed.
The doomed aircraft was filled with determine skaters together with former champion determine skaters Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
How widespread are home flights within the US?
by Georgie English, International Information Reporter
EVERY single day the Federal Aviation Administration oversees 45,000 flights with virtually three million passengers on board
This covers an enormous 29 million sq. miles of airspace from all around the US.
At peak instances there may even be as much as 5,400 plane within the sky at any second – making a mammoth job for aviation specialists and air visitors controllers to keep up security amongst all of them.
Because of this any mistaken name or misstep from both flight crew or controllers can lead to a deadly tragedy.
A scarcity of air visitors controllers prior to now has triggered delayed flights and raised quite a lot of security considerations.
Washington DC’s airspace specifically is extraordinarily busy at peak instances.
There have been a number of near-miss incidents at Reagan Nationwide Airport in recent times together with a near-collision in Could 2024 between an American Airways jet and a small aircraft.
The same disaster virtually occurred a month earlier between a Southwest and JetBlue flight.
Reagan Nationwide additionally encompasses a a lot shorter runway than many others with over 90 per cent of outgoing and in-going flights utilizing the principle one.
This makes it the busiest single runway within the US with over 800 takeoffs and landings every day – or one each minute for a lot of the day.
USA Determine Skating mentioned a number of members of its skating neighborhood had been additionally on board.
It mentioned that the athletes, coaches and family members had been travelling again residence from a improvement camp held in Wichita, Kansas.
It mentioned: “We’re devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and maintain the victims’ households intently in our hearts.
“We’ll proceed to observe the scenario and can launch extra info because it turns into obtainable.”
The skaters had been part of the Nationwide Growth Workforce and had competed on the US Determine Skating Championships that was held between January 20 to 26 in Wichita, Kansas.
In the meantime President Trump has questioned how the smash occurred on a “clear night time”.
He wrote on Fact Social: “The airplane was on an ideal and routine line of method to the airport.
“The helicopter was going straight on the airplane for an prolonged time period.
“It’s a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the aircraft had been blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or flip.
“Why didn’t the management tower inform the helicopter what to do as a substitute of asking in the event that they noticed the aircraft.
“This can be a unhealthy scenario that appears prefer it ought to have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”