空中相撞造成 67 人死亡，这是近 25 年来美国最严重的空难

【中美创新时报2025 年 1 月 31 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）官员周四表示，一架陆军直升机与一架喷气式客机在空中相撞，两架飞机上 67 人全部遇难，他们正在仔细审查这起美国近 25 年来最严重的航空灾难中军方飞行员的行为。美联社记者LOLITA C. BALDOR、TARA COPP、ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON 和 LEA SKENE对此作了下述报道。

官员称，周三晚间，美国航空公司的支线飞机在华盛顿河对岸的罗纳德·里根国家机场降落时，直升机显然飞入了飞机的航线，随后从波托马克河冰冷的河水中打捞出至少 28 具尸体。飞机上载有 60 名乘客和 4 名机组人员，直升机上有 3 名士兵。

唐纳德·特朗普总统在白宫新闻发布会上表示，无人幸存。

“我们现在正从救援行动转向恢复行动，”美国首都消防局局长约翰·唐纳利说。

坠机事件发生在晚上 9 点之前，地点是世界上控制和监控最严格的空域之一，距离白宫和国会大厦以南仅 3 英里（约 4.8 公里）。

空难调查可能需要数月时间，联邦调查人员告诉记者，他们不会对原因进行猜测。

美国国家运输安全委员会发言人彼得·克努森 (Peter Knudson) 表示，调查人员从庞巴迪 CRJ700 飞机上找到了驾驶舱语音记录器和飞行数据记录器。他们正在该机构的实验室进行评估。

唐纳利说，飞机被发现时，机身倒置，分成三部分，浸泡在齐腰深的水中，急救人员正在波托马克河数英里范围内搜寻。直升机残骸也被发现。从河中拍摄的图像显示，部分沉没的机翼和机身残骸周围有船只。

美国航空公司首席执行官罗伯特·艾索姆 (Robert Isom) 表示，当“军用飞机进入飞机航线”时，飞机正在正常进近。

据美联社获得的美国联邦航空管理局 (FAA) 的一份报告称，碰撞发生时，一名空中交通管制员负责协调直升机交通以及进出港飞机。这些职责通常由两个人分担，但机场通常在晚上 9:30 交通开始放缓时将这两个角色合并。周三，塔台主管指示将他们提前合并。

“岗位配置与一天中的时间和交通量不符，”报告称。然而，一位知情人士表示，当晚塔台人员配备处于正常水平。

这位不愿透露姓名的人士表示，当管制员需要离开控制台休息、换班或空中交通缓慢时，这两个岗位通常会合并，讨论内部程序。

联邦航空管理局长期以来一直在努力解决空中交通管制员短缺的问题。

官员们表示，当这架飞机从堪萨斯州威奇托抵达时，飞行条件很清晰，机上载有一群优秀的年轻花样滑冰运动员、他们的父母和教练，以及来自华盛顿地区的四名工会蒸汽管道工。

陆军航空兵的一位高级官员表示，这架黑鹰直升机的机组人员“经验丰富”，熟悉城市周边每天发生的拥堵飞行。

陆军航空兵参谋长乔纳森·科齐奥尔说：“两名飞行员以前都飞过这条特定航线，而且是在夜间。这对他们两人来说都不是什么新鲜事。”

科齐奥尔说，当时直升机的最大允许高度为 200 英尺（约 60 米）。目前尚不清楚直升机是否超过了这一限制，但国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯表示，高度似乎是导致此次碰撞的一个因素。

科齐奥尔表示，调查人员需要分析飞行数据，然后才能对高度做出结论。

特朗普在新闻发布会开始时默哀一分钟，悼念坠机遇难者，称这是美国“痛苦的时刻”。

但他大部分时间都在指责政治，猛烈抨击前总统乔·拜登的政府和联邦航空管理局的多元化努力，称它们导致标准下降——尽管他承认坠机原因不明。

在没有证据的情况下，特朗普指责空中交通管制员、直升机飞行员和联邦机构的民主党政策。他声称，联邦航空管理局“正在根据多元化和包容性招聘计划，积极招募患有严重智力障碍、精神问题和其他精神和身体疾病的员工。”

周四，里根国家机场内气氛沉闷，滞留的乘客们躲避着摄像组，等待航班恢复，透过窗户望向波托马克河，远处的救援工作几乎看不见。

Aster Andemicael 从前一天晚上就和年迈的父亲一起住在那里，她的父亲当时正飞往印第安纳州探望亲戚。漫漫长夜里，她大部分时间都在想着遇难者和他们的家人。

“我从昨天开始就一直在哭，”Andemicael 声音哽咽地说。“这太令人震惊了。”

航班在中午左右恢复。

自 2001 年 11 月以来最严重的空难

周三的空难是自 2001 年 11 月 12 日以来美国发生的最严重的空难，当时一架美国航空公司的飞机从肯尼迪机场起飞后不久撞向纽约贝尔港的一个居民区，机上 260 人全部遇难，地面上 5 人遇难。

上一次涉及美国商业航空公司的重大致命事故发生在 2009 年，地点位于纽约州布法罗附近。这架庞巴迪 DHC-8 螺旋桨飞机上的所有人都遇难，地面上还有一人遇难，使死亡总人数达到 50 人。

然而，专家们经常强调，飞机旅行极其安全。美国国家安全委员会估计，美国人死于机动车事故的几率为 1/93，而飞机上的死亡几率太低，无法计算。交通部的数据也讲述了类似的故事。

但里根国家机场周围的空域对即使是最有经验的飞行员来说也是挑战，无论条件多么理想。他们必须驾驶数百架其他商用飞机、军用飞机和敏感地点周围的禁区。

根据飞行跟踪网站和控制日志，就在致命碰撞发生前 24 小时，另一架支线飞机被告知附近有一架军用直升机，因此不得不绕行里根国家机场，争取第二次降落机会。几分钟后，它安全着陆。

悲剧震惊威奇托

坠机事件摧毁了堪萨斯城，该城以位于美国中心地带而自豪。今年，威奇托首次主办了美国花样滑冰锦标赛，并为顶尖年轻滑冰运动员举办了训练营。

自商业飞行开始以来，该市一直是航空业的主要枢纽，也是庞巴迪公司美国总部所在地，庞巴迪是喷气式客机的制造商。许多地区工人的工作与该行业有关，因此当销售额下降时，该地区的经济就会下滑。

数百人聚集在市议会大厅举行祈祷守夜活动。

“我们会渡过难关，但渡过难关的唯一方法就是团结一致，”圣保罗 AME 教堂的牧师帕梅拉·休斯·梅森说。

相撞发生在严格控制的空域

根据无线电应答器的数据，5342 航班在飞往里根国家机场时，高度约为 400 英尺（122 米），速度约为 140 英里/小时（225 公里/小时），但在波托马克河上空迅速失速。这架加拿大制造的庞巴迪 CRJ-700 双引擎喷气式飞机于 2004 年制造，可搭载多达 70 名乘客。

坠机前几分钟，空中交通管制员将飞机引导至一条较短的跑道，飞行跟踪网站显示飞机调整了进近方式。

相撞前不到 30 秒，一名空中交通管制员询问直升机是否看到了即将降落的飞机。

一名机组人员表示飞机在视线范围内，并要求“目视间隔”——允许飞机飞得比飞行员看不到飞机时允许的距离更近。管制员批准了这一请求。

几秒钟后，两架飞机相撞。

戈麦斯·利康从迈阿密报道。美联社记者华盛顿的泽克·米勒、梅格·金纳德、克里斯·梅杰里安和迈克尔·比塞克；弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的克劳迪娅·劳尔；伦敦的布莱恩·梅利；堪萨斯州威奇托的约翰·汉娜；马里兰州科基斯维尔的莎拉·布鲁姆菲尔德对本文亦有贡献。

题图：1 月 30 日，从阿纳科斯蒂亚-博林联合基地可以看到，美国航空公司一架飞机与一架美国陆军直升机在波托马克河附近的罗纳德·里根华盛顿国家机场坠毁。KENNY HOLSTON/NYT

附原英文报道：

Midair collision kills 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, TARA COPP, ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and LEA SKENE The Associated Press,Updated January 30, 2025 

A crash site involving an American Airlines flight and a US Army helicopter in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, seen from Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling on Jan. 30.KENNY HOLSTON/NYT

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A midair collision between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said Thursday, as they scrutinized the actions of the military pilot in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.

At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the American Airlines regional jet late Wednesday while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the river from Washington, officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.

President Donald Trump told a White House news conference that no one survived.

“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital.

The crash occurred before 9 p.m. in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over 3 miles (about 4.8 kilometers) south of the White House and the Capitol.

Air crash investigations can take months, and federal investigators told reporters they would not speculate on the cause.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane, agency spokesperson Peter Knudson said. They were at the agency’s labs for evaluation.

The plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water, and first responders were searching miles of the Potomac, Donnelly said. The helicopter wreckage was also found. Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the plane was making a normal approach when “the military aircraft came into the path” of the jet.

One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration that was obtained by The Associated Press. Those duties are often divided between two people, but the airport typically combines the roles at 9:30 p.m, once traffic begins to slow down. On Wednesday the tower supervisor directed that they be combined earlier.

“The position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” the report said. A person familiar with the matter, however, said the tower staffing that night was at a normal level.

The positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, during shift changes or when air traffic is slow, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.

The Federal Aviation Administration has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.

A top Army aviation official said the crew of the helicopter, a Black Hawk, was “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying that occurs daily around the city.

“Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn’t something new to either one of them,” said Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation.

The helicopter’s maximum allowed altitude at the time was 200 feet (about 60 meters), Koziol said. It was not immediately clear whether it exceeded that limit, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said altitude seemed to be a factor in the collision.

Koziol said investigators need to analyze the flight data before making conclusions about altitude.

Trump opened the news conference with a moment of silence honoring the crash victims, calling it an “hour of anguish” for the country.

But he spent most of his time casting political blame, lashing out at former President Joe Biden’s administration and diversity efforts at the Federal Aviation Administration, saying they had led to slipping standards — even as he acknowledged that the cause of the crash was unknown.

Without evidence, Trump blamed air traffic controllers, the helicopter pilots and Democratic policies at federal agencies. He claimed that the FAA was “actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative.”

Inside Reagan National, the mood was somber Thursday as stranded passengers waited for flights to resume, sidestepping camera crews and staring out the windows at the Potomac, where recovery efforts were barely visible in the distance.

Aster Andemicael had been there since the previous evening with her older adult father, who was flying to Indiana to visit relatives. She spent much of the long night thinking about the victims and their families.

“I’ve been crying since yesterday,” Andemicael said, her voice cracking. “This is devastating.”

Flights resumed around midday.

The deadliest plane crash since November 2001

Wednesday’s crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight slammed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard and five people on the ground.

The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, along with one person on the ground, bringing the total death toll to 50.

Experts often highlight that plane travel is overwhelmingly safe, however. The National Safety Council estimates that Americans have a 1-in-93 chance of dying in a motor vehicle crash, while deaths on airplanes are too rare to calculate the odds. Figures from the Department of Transportation tell a similar story.

But the airspace around Reagan National can challenge even the most experienced pilots no matter how ideal the conditions. They must navigate hundreds of other commercial planes, military aircraft and restricted areas around sensitive sites.

Just over 24 hours before the fatal collision, a different regional jet had to go around for a second chance at landing at Reagan National after it was advised about a military helicopter nearby, according to flight tracking sites and control logs. It landed safely minutes later.

Tragedy stuns Wichita

The crash devastated the Kansas city, which prides itself on being in America’s heartland. Wichita hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this year for the first time, along with training camps for top young skaters.

The city has been a major hub for the aircraft industry since the early days of commercial flight, and it is home to the U.S. headquarters for Bombardier, which manufactured the jetliner. So many regional workers have jobs tied to the industry that the area’s economy slumps when sales dip.

Several hundred people gathered in the city council chambers for a prayer vigil.

“We will get through this, but the only way we will get through this is together,” said the Rev. Pamela Hughes Mason of St. Paul AME Church.

Collision happened in tightly controlled airspace

Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet (122 meters) and a speed of about 140 mph (225 kph) when it rapidly lost altitude over the Potomac, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-700 twin-engine jet, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

A few minutes before the crash, air traffic controllers directed the jet to a shorter runway, and flight-tracking sites showed that it adjusted its approach.

Less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight.

A crewmember said the aircraft was in sight and requested “visual separation” — allowing it to fly closer than otherwise might be allowed if pilots did not see the plane. Controllers approved the request.

Seconds later, the two aircraft collided.

Gomez Licon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian, Michael Biesecker in Washington; Claudia Lauer in Arlington, Virginia; Brian Melley in London; John Hanna in Wichita, Kansas; and Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, contributed.