The crash claimed the lives of 67 people. There were 60 passengers on board AA5342 plus four crew. Three soldiers were in the army aircraft.<\/p>\n
At a press conference later that evening, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly says\u00a0they ‘don’t know if there are any survivors’<\/a>, adding that his team will be working with the National Transportation Safety Board to help any preserve evidence indicating what had resulted in the collision.<\/p>\n On Thursday the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that the crash had no survivors.<\/p>\n The\u00a0crash<\/a>\u00a0occurred in mid-air, whilst the PSA Airlines jet (AA 5432) was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport just outside of\u00a0Washington D.C.<\/a>\u00a0after originally departing from Wichita, Kansas.<\/p>\n At around 9pm local time, the aircraft collided with a Black Hawk Sikorsky H-60 helicopter, which itself had departed from Fort Belvoir, Virginia.<\/p>\n According to witnesses of the devastating collision, both aircrafts subsequently plummeted into the Potomac River, with search teams, boats and helicopters having since been dispatched to search for any survivors.<\/p>\n In the hours since, audio from air traffic control has emerged, having been recorded from moments before and after the collision.<\/p>\n In the clip, ATC operators can be heard asking the helicopter’s pilot if they could see the American Airlines flight.<\/p>\n The muffled audio also hears more commands and confirmations being made by air traffic control staff, with one being heard asking: “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”<\/p>\n 67 people have died in the crash (Anadolu \/ Contributor \/ Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n The same controller can be heard requesting moments later: “Pat 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”<\/p>\n Seconds later, a gasp can be heard at the moment of the crash from the tower, which immediately alerted another pilot of the collision.<\/p>\n On Friday (31 January) a statement was shared with People confirming that the identification number Flight AA5342 would no longer exist.<\/p>\n![\"67](\"https:\/\/images.ladbible.com\/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https:\/\/images.ladbiblegroup.com\/v3\/assets\/blt8bbf16c2d7a209e5\/blt01382796ff2013da\/679b7a74bc30c3f2f6e19910\/american-airlines---.jpg\")
<\/div>\n