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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
William Mata

Flight map shows route of American Airlines plane before deadly crash in Washington DC

The Flight Tracker map of the American Airlines Flight 5342 - (Flight Tracker)

A flight map is circulating online, showing the route the American Airlines plane took before it crashed in Washington - potentially killing all onboard.

Officials searching the Potomac River are worried there may be “no survivors” after the plane collided mid-air with a US Army helicopter over the US capital on Wednesday night.

As the rescue mission continues the Flight Tracker map has been circulated showing the journey from Wichita, Kansas, to the Reagan Washington National Airport. It shows the plane following a conventional west-to-east route, broadly in line with the estimation.

The plane is seen to be near the airport on the map but tragically never made it any further.

Responders look for bodies in the Potomac River (AFP via Getty Images)
A man looks at the arrivals and departures boards at the airport in Wichita (REUTERS)

There has not been any suggestion that the plane deviated from a route, although the US Department for Transport has called it “preventable”.

Flight Tracker is a popular tool for following the progress of plane journeys and has seen a spike in people viewing flights out of Washington on Friday.

Sixty passengers, four plane crew and three soldiers in the helicopter are feared dead after the crash. It was reported at around 4pm that around 30 bodies have now been recovered from the Potomac.

No names of the deceased have yet been released but the US Figure Skating confirmed that “several” members of its skating community were on board.

Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident”. Referring to the passengers, he added: “May God Bless their souls.”

The US president is set to address his nation at 4pm, GMT.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said: “I speak for all of us when I say how very sad we are for American Airlines, for the US Department of Defence and all Americans for the loss of life that happened with the collision of these aircraft.

“We all share a profound sense of grief.”

The Mayor thanked emergency services who worked together throughout the night in “tough and heartbreaking” conditions during the rescue operation.

Following the tragedy and similar incidents in South Korea, questions around the safety of air travel have been raised. But statistically, the number of people killed annually in aviation has been dropping consistently since the 1970s, according to research.

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