Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. 78 passengers, cabin crew members and motorists died. Just five people survived, and only three are still alive to witness news of the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.
A pilot on the American Airlines jet that was involved in a deadly crash near Washington D.C. Wednesday night was a graduate of a Florida university, officials confirmed.
The captain flying the plane with 64 aboard was schooled in Florida. A Blackhawk helicopter collided with Flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan airport.
Both the captain, Jonathan J. Campos, 34, and co-pilot, Sam Lilley, 28, had been flying for years, according to family and friends.
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Air Florida Flight 90: What happened when plane crashed into DC's Potomac River in 1982?Several federal and state investigations have been launched after an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and fell into the Potomac River,
Daniel Izzo, a retired Navy SEAL master chief, has conducted water rescues after plane crashes and says winter conditions in the Potomac River make the situation even more dangerous. "It always seems like something like this happens at the worst possible time," Izzo said. "It happened at night. It happened in January."
The plane collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac, killing 67 people. The four-member plane crew was based in Charlotte.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been closed until at least 11 a.m. Thursday. Several flights out of Florida have already been canceled.
Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S.
President Trump said the crash was a "tragedy of terrible proportions" and told family members "Our hearts are shattered alongside yours."
An American Airlines regional jet collided with a military helicopter as it was approaching Reagan National Airport.
The devastating Air Florida Flight 90 crash on Jan. 13, 1982 and subsequent rescue efforts in the ice-covered Potomac River transfixed Washington and the nation
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