When was the last major commercial airplane crash? | FOX 35 Orlando

When was the last major commercial airplane crash?

An American Airlines passenger jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night, killing everyone on board and marking the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years. 

The crash happened while the jet was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC, sending wreckage into the icy Potomac River. Passengers on the jet, which was coming from Wichita, Kansas, included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp held after the national U.S. Figure Skating Championships. 

RELATED: DC plane crash: Flag draped remains honored by first responders

Officials said Thursday that there are no survivors, and at least 28 bodies had been recovered so far. 

What caused the DC plane crash? 

Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

What we know:

A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could do so on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

RELATED: DC plane crash victims: What we know so far

Less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked a helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later, saying "PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ" — apparently telling the copter to wait for the Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet to pass. There was no reply. Seconds after that, the aircraft collided.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (732 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac.

The body of the plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water, officials said. The helicopter's wreckage was also found.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation with help from the Federal Aviation Administration. 

What we don't know:

Federal investigators don’t know exactly what caused the crash, though President Trump and others speculate that it could have been avoided. Investigators will try to piece together the moments before the collision, including any communication between the aircraft and air traffic controllers and a loss of altitude by the jet.

RELATED: US Figure Skating: Members were on plane that crashed near DCA

What they're saying:

President Donald Trump suggested in an overnight social media post that the collision could have been prevented. He doubled down in a news conference Thursday, saying that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are to blame for the horrific crash. 

RELATED: Trump blasts DEI in wake of DC plane crash

When pressed about why, Trump acknowledged that there is no evidence yet that it could be blamed for the collision.

LIVE DC plane crash updates: All feared dead after midair collision 

"It just could have been," he said.

RELATED: DC plane crash: What we know about the aircraft involved

RELATED: Trump says Reagan National Airport crash could have been prevented: 'CLEAR NIGHT'

When was the last major plane crash in the US? 

The backstory:

The last fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 in New York, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

In 2013, three people died in the Asiana runway crash at San Francisco International Airport. The crash, which also injured nearly 200 people, was caused by Asiana Airlines pilots incorrectly operating the autopilot system. 

When was the last death on a commercial plane in the U.S.? 

The last death on a commercial plane in the U.S. happened in 2018, when a woman was partially sucked out of a Southwest Airlines plane after the jet blew an engine at 32,000 feet and got hit by shrapnel that smashed a window. The flight was en route from LaGuardia airport in NYC to Dallas Love Field. 

The crash of Air Florida Flight 90, Jan. 13, 1982

News of the crash has drawn interest in a 1982 crash involving a passenger plane departing Reagan Washington National Airport that struck a bridge and fell into the Potomac River. That crash led to safety changes at the FAA.

RELATED: Air Florida Flight 90: What happened when plane crashed into DC's Potomac River in 1982?

On Jan. 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 727-200 series, departed from Reagan Washington National Airport in D.C. en route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a planned stop in Tampa, and crashed shortly after takeoff. The airplane crashed into the 14th Street Bridge and then fell into the icy Potomac River.

According to the FAA report, the plane had trouble climbing after departing the runway. The plane rotated, stalled, and then struck the bridge, which connected Arlington, Virginia to Washington D.C.

The FAA said 70 of the 74 people aboard Air Florida Flight 90 died, along with four of the five crew members. Four people on the 14th Street Bridge were also killed, the FAA said. Several others were hurt.

The Source: This report includes information from KTVU, FOX 35 Orlando, previous FOX 5 DC reporting, the Associated Press and the National Transportation Safety Board. 

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