Potomac River: Safety of Navigation Fully Restored
The section of the Potomac River affected by the Jan. 29 midair collision of an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has now been fully restored, six days ahead of schedule.
After aiding in initial rescue and recovery operations, 49 US Army Corps of Engineers subject matter experts worked alongside more than 2,000 responders from 45 private, local, state and federal agencies as they began preliminary assessments required for wreckage removal operations.
Pre-staging operations commenced Jan. 31, and initial removal of large wreckage began Feb. 3 with major components of the jet and concluded Feb. 6 with removal of the Black Hawk. Crews then cleared the remaining debris field of wreckage that would pose a further hazard to navigation.
The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airplane operated as American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan Washington National Airport and the US Army helicopter collided at 8:47 p.m. ET on January 29, 2025, killing 67 people. As of Feb. 5, Unified Command confirmed all 67 victims were recovered and positively identified.
All wreckage has been transported to a secure location for a layout examination and documentation by the National Transportation Safety Board, as part of their ongoing investigation.
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