American Airlines CEO ‘absolutely heartbroken’ after DC crash involving 64 passengers and crew, no survivors expected
American Airlines (AAL) CEO Robert Isom on Thursday morning expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the 64 people on board a flight that collided with a military helicopter Wednesday night as it approached Reagan Washington National Airport.
”We're absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones of the passengers and crew members and also for those that were on the military aircraft,” Isom said during a press briefing with reporters.
The flight, operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines, was traveling from Wichita, Kansas to DCA when it collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers on a training mission, media reports said.
Authorities said during the briefing with reporters early Thursday that they had recovered 28 bodies: one from the helicopter and 27 from the plane.
D.C. fire and EMS department chief John Donnelly told reporters, “ [A]t this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
Donnelly said the immediate rescue efforts involved 300 responders operating in "extremely frigid conditions." Donnelly added the operation had shifted from a rescue operation to a recovery operation as of Thursday morning.
“ This is devastating…we are all hurting,” Isom told reporters.
In a separate video statement Wednesday evening, Isom said the company is “cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation.” The Pentagon is also investigating the crash, which is the first commercial airplane collision since 2009.
The cause of the collision is unknown.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the collision "preventable," but added the, "the flight paths that were being flown from the military and from American [were] not unusual.”
Shares of American Airlines were down as much as 4% before the market open on Thursday.
Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Bluesky @laurabratton.bsky.social. Email her at laura.bratton@yahooinc.com.
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