NEWSAmerican Airlines Passenger Texted Her Husband She Was 'Landing in 20 Minutes' Before Devastating Plane Crash: 'I'm Just Praying'
An American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night, January 29.
The loved ones of passengers onboard a commercial American Airlines flight are speaking out after the plane horrifically collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night, January 29.
One of the woman on the jet informed her husband she was about to land just moments before the plane split in half and plummeted into the freezing cold waters below.
60 passengers and four crew members were on board the plane, while the helicopter was carrying three soldiers.
"I'm just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now. That’s all I can pray for," a man named Hamaad Raza told a local news outlet WUSA while waiting for an update near Reagan National Airport, where the aircraft was supposed to land.
"She texted me that they were landing in 20 minutes," he explained, showing the eerie messages on his phone.
First responders don't believe there are any survivors from the fatal crash.
Raza only started to panic after his replying messages didn't "get delivered."
"That’s when I realized something was up," he admitted, again displaying the responses on his device that never reached his wife.
Unfortunately, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly revealed during a press conference on Thursday, January 30, that there doesn't appear to be any signs of life making it out of the crash.
"We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are survivors from this accident, and we have recovered 27 people from this plane and one from the helicopter," he announced.
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Officials addressed the public during a press conference on Thursday morning, January 30.
Addressing whether all bodies will be recovered from the wreckage, Donelly added: "I’m confident that we will do that."
"That will take us a little bit of time, though. It may involve some more equipment," he noted.
While speaking to reporters in the conference room and to viewers at home, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also expressed sympathy for those affected by this tragedy.
"How very sad we are for American Airlines for the United States Department of Defense and for all Americans for the loss of life that happened with the collision of these aircraft," she declared. "We all share a profound sense of grief."
Reagan National Airport reopens at 11 a.m. on Thursday, January 30.
A News4 reporter spoke to two sources familiar with the search efforts, who revealed first responders recovered more than 30 bodies from the frigid water.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members onboard the plane, with the Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers.
Reagan National Airport stopped all flights after the fatal crash occurred on Wednesday evening, however, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority president Jack Potter confirmed it will reopen at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
"It’s safe," he stated. "We’ve worked with all the federal agencies, FAA, and, you know, it’s been determined that we’ve opened that airport safely."
