Washington DC plane crash: Relatives wait outside Reagan National Airport, say it’s absolutely heartbreaking

It has been hours that people are waiting for their loved ones outside the Reagan Washington National Airport. An American Airlines passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the frigid Potomac River after a midair collision near the airport. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft.

Hamaad Raza, who was waiting for his wife, said this was absolutely heartbreaking. “I’m just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now. This is absolutely heartbreaking,” he told media.

Three US Army soldiers were onboard a BlackHawk helicopter. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the status of the soldiers was unknown, but added that no senior officials were on the helicopter.
Multiple casualties have been reported in the crash which occurred around 9 pm EST when a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, smashed into a military Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.

Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas told media, “It’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously. And I don’t want to forget the pilots and the flight attendants. When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow. It’s a heartbreak beyond measure.”

All takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted.