Good morning. Late last night near Washington DC, a jet carrying 64 people collided with a US army helicopter above the Potomac river. A frantic rescue operation got underway quickly and was still continuing a few minutes ago, with the precise number of fatalities unclear but multiple bodies seen being pulled from the water.
There is no indication of what caused the crash yet, but there was no sign it was a terrorist incident. For the very latest developments, head to the Guardian’s live blog. Today’s newsletter explains what we know so far. Here are the headlines.
Five big stories
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UK economy | Rachel Reeves caused a furious backlash as she insisted a third runway at Heathrow was “set up for success”, despite scepticism in Whitehall that the plan can be reconciled with the UK’s climate obligations. The chancellor made throwing the government’s weight behind Heathrow expansion the centrepiece of a major speech on growth on Wednesday.
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Israel-Gaza war | The main UN agency serving Palestinians in the occupied territories, including Gaza, looks likely to be shut down on Thursday as Israel defied widespread international support for the agency in a move Unrwa predicted would “sabotage Gaza’s recovery and political transition”.
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India | At least 30 people have been killed and scores injured in crowd crushes at the Kumbh Mela festival, Indian police have confirmed, as vast numbers of people went to bathe at one of the holiest sites of the Hindu gathering.
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US news | Robert F Kennedy Jr’s combative Senate confirmation hearing for health secretary erupted into fierce exchanges on Wednesday as Democrats confronted one of the US’s most prominent vaccine sceptics who possibly will be handed the reins of its public health system.
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Education | Some children are starting reception school “unable to climb a staircase”, while others use Americanisms in their speech because of too much screen time, according to a survey of teachers. The pandemic has been blamed for a decline in school readiness among reception-aged children.
In depth: ‘It’s a heartbreak beyond measure’
At 8.47pm local time last night, American Airlines flight 5342 was approaching Reagan national airport, one of the busiest in the US, at the end of a flight from Kansas. The jet was coming in to land at a height of about 400ft, and travelling at about 140mph.
Thirty seconds before the crash, according to audio obtained by the Associated Press, an air traffic controller asked the pilot of the military Black Hawk helicopter if the arriving plane was in sight. Then they told the helicopter to pass behind the Bombardier CRJ-701 jet. Seconds later, a fireball could be seen over the Potomac river, and the plane’s radio transponder showed a sudden loss of altitude.
What do we know about the causes of the crash?
That will take time to understand. There was no immediate indication of any deliberate or terrorist cause.
The helicopter was on a training exercise in some of the most tightly controlled airspace in the world. The weather in DC was clear. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates all aviation accidents in the US, said that its investigators were on the way to the scene about an hour and a half ago.
What do we know about the number of fatalities?
No official count has been given yet, but CBS News reported that 18 bodies had been recovered from the river. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas said that it was “really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously … 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.”
There were conflicting reports on whether survivors had been found, and Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser said that she would not be giving any further details at a press conference less than an hour ago. Temperatures in the area were below freezing, and any length of time spent in the water would be extremely dangerous for anyone who survived the initial incident, with hypothermia setting in quickly in very cold water.
A large rescue operation got underway swiftly, with the first units arriving on the scene about 10 minutes after the explosion. Inflatable boats and dive teams searched the site, with helicopters circling above, and large floodlights illuminating the scene from the shore. About 300 responders were involved in the search. The operations were made more difficult by strong gusts of wind as well as the cold.
Washington DC fire and emergency medical services chief John Donnelly said: “The challenges are access … there is wind, there [are] pieces of ice out there, so it’s just dangerous and hard to work in, and because there’s not a lot of lights you’re out there searching every square inch of space to see if you can find anybody. Divers are doing the same thing in the water – the water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in.”
The airport is expected to be closed until 11am today. The search for those who were aboard the plane is likely to continue for multiple days, with an investigation taking longer, fire chief Donnelly said.
What have political leaders said?
Donald Trump said that he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and said of the passengers: “May God bless their souls.”
Later, he posted on his Truth Social platform that “this is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented”. He added: “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane?” It was not clear if those comments were based on any official briefing about the incident.
Trump’s newly installed agency leaders also responded to the crash. Pete Hegseth, the new defence secretary, said that his department was “actively monitoring” the situation. Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said that he was “at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation”.
He said at a press conference later: “The tragedy that we’re going to deal with with this recovery I think is touching everyone’s hearts … everyone here is thinking and praying for those who have potentially lost a loved one.” At the same press conference, mayor Bowser said that all of Washington was mourning “for the families who are experiencing loss tonight”. She said that American Airlines officials were at Reagan National Airport and speaking to those who had family members aboard the flight.
What have eyewitnesses said?
Ari Schulman, who was driving home when the incident happened, described a “stream of sparks” overhead. “Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land,” he told CNN.
“Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right … I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it. It looked like a Roman candle.”
Mark Poloncarz, who was waiting to catch a flight to New York at the airport, said that there was an announcement that there would be no flights landing or taking off about a minute after he saw emergency vehicles moving outside the terminal.
“We started to see a lot of emergency vehicles heading towards the river,” he told the Associated Press. “When flights get delayed, people get aggravated and upset. But there was no one getting aggravated or upset because I think we all realized pretty quickly the magnitude of what occurred. The terminal grew pretty quiet. There was a lot of sadness.”
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What else we’ve been reading
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For this week’s Long Wave newsletter, Jason Okundaye interviewed award-winning British-Nigerian poet and film-maker Caleb Femi about his new poetry collection called The Wickedest, which, Jason writes, captures “the real spirit of the house party, in all its noise and complication”. Nimo
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Aditya Chakrabortty on Labour’s growth strategy, set out by chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday: “Growth strategy? This is more like a trolley dash, grabbing whatever’s close to hand and might do.” Archie
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Former Green MP Caroline Lucas sets out a compelling case against the “draconian” sentences being levelled at non-violent environmental protesters, arguing that they mirror tactics used by authoritarian regimes. Nimo
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Netflix has released its new series about four sisters in 1970s Japan discovering their ageing father’s affair, Asura, without fanfare – but, says Rebecca Nicholson: “This is a fantastic television series, and it would be criminal to let it pass you by.” Archie
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The Brutalist has garnered widespread critical acclaim and is poised for Oscar success. However, many architects could not disagree more, pointing to what they see to be a series of glaring inaccuracies and missteps in the film. Oliver Wainwright delves into why. Nimo
Sport
Football | Manchester City qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League after fighting back from a goal down to triumph 3-1 against Club Brugge. PSV secured a playoff place beating Liverpool, who also progressed, 3-2. A 2-1 win for Arsenal at Girona cemented their progress. Aston Villa logged a 4-2 victory against Celtic as they secured automatic qualification.
Football | Arsenal have had a significant bid for Ollie Watkins rejected by Aston Villa, with fellow striker Jhon Durán poised to leave instead after the club received an offer rising to £80m from Al-Nassr for the Colombian.
Rugby | France are set to welcome back fly-half Romain Ntamack for the first time in 18 months when they open their Six Nations campaign against Wales on Friday, but their injury-hit squad will have to contend without winger Damian Penaud through a toe injury.
The front pages
“Chancellor’s Heathrow expansion plans hit turbulence over climate” says the Guardian and the Mail goes that way as well saying “Chancellor’s Heathrow plan flies straight into turbulence”. “The Reeves revolution” – the Mirror splashes on “Labour’s vision for growth” while the i has “Reeves backs bigger airports, new rail line and towns as she reveals growth plan” and the Metro says “It’s boom or bust!”. “Heathrow will not be ready until 2050” – that’s the Telegraph while the Express cites its own survey to conclude that “Starmer really ‘can’t be trusted with our Brexit’”. Top story in the Times is “Dying bill safeguard could be abandoned” while in the Financial Times it’s “London vaults hit by gold shortage as New York stockpiles $82bn of bullion”.
Today in Focus
A journey to Greenland: the 51st state?
What do Greenlanders make of Donald Trump’s interest in their island? Miranda Bryant reports
Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Two women’s cricket matches are scheduled in Melbourne today, which carry vastly different stakes. At the MCG, Australia face England in pursuit of a historic Ashes whitewash. Meanwhile, at Junction Oval, an Afghanistan XI play their first match since fleeing their homeland in 2021. For these Afghan players, it’s more than a game – it’s a powerful statement that Afghan women belong in cricket. Forced into exile when the Taliban banned women’s sport, they’ve rebuilt their dreams in Australia. Now, proudly wearing shirts designed by teammate Benafsha Hashimi, they take the field under their real names.
England captain Heather Knight called them “inspirational”, while Cricket Australia has embraced them but they are still seeking recognition from the ICC. “We want to go further and have other matches in Australia. We’re glad to have Cricket Australia with us – now we hope to get some support from ICC,” Hashimi says. “We will try to be the best, to tell Afghan girls that they can do it”.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
Article by:Source: Archie Bland
