A firetruck heads toward the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport after an air crash in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
A US passenger jet carrying 64 people crashed into Washington’s Potomac River Wednesday after colliding midair with a military helicopter on a night training exercise, prompting a desperate search for survivors in the dark, near-freezing water.
The plane was approaching Reagan National Airport at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT) after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.
American Airlines, whose subsidiary PSA Airlines operated the Bombardier regional jet, said “there were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft.”
Information screens in Reagan National Airport display emergency instructions as journalists wait for a media briefing after a plane crashed into the Potomac River outside Washington, DC, January 30, 2025. (Photo by Ting Shen / AFP)
A US Army official said the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk carrying three soldiers — their status currently unknown. They had been on a “training flight,” a separate military spokesperson said in a statement.
Washington police said “there is no confirmed information on casualties at this time.”
However, a massive search and rescue operation was in progress, with divers visible in the glare of powerful lights as they plunged into the snow-lined Potomac to scour the wreckage of both aircraft.
“We’re going to be out there as long as it takes, and we’re obviously trying to get to people as soon as possible, but we are going to recover our fellow citizens,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.
Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly said at a press briefing that emergency crews, totaling about 300 people, were working in “extremely rough” conditions and gave little indication they expected to find anyone alive.
“We will re-evaluate where we are with the rescue operation in the morning, when we get a better sense of it,” Donnelly said.
“But we are still out there working, and we’re going to continue that throughout the night.”
Witness Ari Schulman was driving home when he saw what he described as “a stream of sparks” overhead.
Lights from emergency vehicles are seen as rescue crews gather along the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, after an air crash on January 29, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
“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,” Schulman added.
“It looked like a Roman candle.”
Trump criticizes traffic control
President Donald Trump said in an official statement that he had been “fully briefed” and said of any victims, “may God bless their souls.”
But less than four hours after the disaster — and while other officials stressed they were waiting for investigations to unfold — he returned to social media to critique air traffic control.
“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,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“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. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National and the airport was not due to reopen until 11:00 am (1600 GMT) Thursday.
American Airlines’ chief executive issued a video statement in which he expressed “deep sorrow”, while US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas called the collision “nothing short of a nightmare.”
Crowded airspace
Questions were expected to focus on how a passenger plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation’s capital.
The airspace around Washington is often crowded, with planes coming in low over the city to land at Reagan airport and helicopters — military, civilian and carrying senior politicians or officials — buzzing about both day and night.
The same airport was the scene of a deadly crash in January 1982 when Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off but quickly plummeted, hitting the 14th Street bridge and crashing through the ice into the Potomac River. Seventy-eight people died.
Investigators concluded the pilot had failed to activate sufficient de-icing procedures.
The last major fatal US air accident was in 2009, when Continental Flight 3407 from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York crashed and killed all 49 people aboard.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Premier League is the top league in terms of player contributions to the 2026 World Cup, sending 162 players to the 48-team tournament.
With the World Cup squad lists finalized, and despite last-minute withdrawals due to injury, such as Belardi from Argentina and Kahr from Germany, it can be concluded that the Premier League is once again leading the world’s major leagues. England’s top flight has solidified its position as the largest source of players for the 48 World Cup teams.
As of June 7th, out of the 1244 confirmed selected players, 13% play in the Premier League, totaling 162 individuals, with 5 clubs contributing at least 10 players each.
Manchester City leads the clubs contributing national team players to the World Cup with 19 players. Following closely among English teams are Arsenal with 16, Manchester United with 12, Crystal Palace with 12, and Liverpool with 11. The English top flight has once again proven its representation in football, and this advantage is now reflected on the World Cup stage.
Although there is a gap with the Premier League, the Bundesliga is still the second-highest contributor of players to the upcoming World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Specifically, 100 participating players currently play in the Bundesliga, with Bayern Munich being the largest contributor from the Bundesliga, with 17 players selected. Borussia Dortmund contributed 11 players. In recent years, the Bundesliga’s global influence has continuously increased, with Hoffenheim having 9 World Cup players and Eintracht Frankfurt having 8.
Without Barcelona, La Liga’s presence would be much smaller. Including Gündoğan, Barcelona will have 16 players participating in the World Cup, making it one of the clubs contributing the most players to this World Cup. La Liga has a total of 81 players selected, only half that of the Premier League. After Barcelona, Atlético Madrid is the Spanish club with the most players contributed, with 12, surpassing Real Madrid’s 10, as Real Madrid also suffers from the impact of a poor season performance.
Ligue 1 has a total of 78 players participating in the World Cup, with Paris Saint-Germain accounting for a large proportion. Among these 78 players, nearly 20% come from this newly crowned European champion, specifically 15 players. Following Paris Saint-Germain among Ligue 1 clubs are Lille and Nice, both with 8 players selected.
Italy once had the best league in the world, and now Serie A contributes 66 players to this most important football event, which is also related to the Italian team missing the World Cup for the third consecutive time. AC Milan, which finished fifth in Serie A, is the Italian club with the most World Cup players, with 10.
Another data point that demonstrates the strength of English football is that the EFL Championship, England’s second-tier league after the Premier League, has 36 players participating in the World Cup, which is more than the total of other major European second-tier leagues, such as the 2. Bundesliga with 6, Ligue 2 with 6, Serie B with 5, and Segunda División with 5. In fact, the Championship is among the top ten leagues contributing the most World Cup players, even higher than the Brazilian and Dutch leagues.
June 5th, Transfermarkt updated. The new market values of Barcelona players. Three players increased and nine decreased, with Raphinha dropping by 10 million to 70 million euros.
Increase (Euros)
Joan-Garcia increased by 5 million to 45 million
Eric-Garcia increased by 5 million to 40 million
Gerard-Martin increased by 10 million to 35 million
Decrease (Euros)
Raphinha decreased by 10 million to 70 million
Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 on Friday, its lowest level since October 2024, just before Donald Trump’s election which propelled it to a record high.
The currency fell by about 6 percent around 1615 GMT, to $59.7709, before paring its losses slightly.
The election of Trump, a staunch advocate of cryptocurrencies, to the White House in November 2024 for a second term sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the sector, sending the price of bitcoin soaring to nearly $110,000.
