(WASHINGTON) — An American Airlines regional jet collided with a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia on Wednesday night before both aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River.
Sixty-four people were on the plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three Army soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight at the time, officials said. No survivors are expected.
The incident recalls a similar tragedy that took place 43 years ago.
On Jan. 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge in downtown Washington, D.C., and plunged into the icy waters of the Potomac.
The Boeing 737-200 that was en route to Tampa departed from Runway 36 at Washington National Airport at 4 p.m., despite the dangerous blizzard conditions, according to various media reports at the time.
The plane, struggling to gain altitude, only rose a few hundred feet in the air after takeoff before suddenly dropping toward the bridge, shearing off the tops of cars and crashing into the river.
In total, 78 passengers, crew members and motorists died in the crash, according to officials. Five people were rescued from the frigid waters of the Potomac.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the cause of the crash to be pilot error, along with improper deicing procedures. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a report that the flight “experienced difficulty in climbing immediately following rotation and subsequently stalled.”
“Loss of control was determined to be due to reduction in aerodynamic lift resulting from ice and snow that had accumulated on the airplane’s wings during prolonged ground operation at National Airport,” the FAA said.
Flight attendant Kelly Duncan, the only crew member on board who survived, told ABC News in 1982 that the crash seemed unreal.
“My next feeling was that I was just floating through white and I felt like I was dying and I just thought, ‘I’m not really ready to die,'” she said at the time.
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