In a video, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom conveyed his “deep sorrow” regarding the unfortunate collision between a passenger plane and a Black Hawk military helicopter that occurred on Wednesday evening.
Isom’s message underscores the gravity of the situation because it highlights the need for ongoing vigilance in air traffic management.
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“Hello everyone, I’m Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines. I wanna brief you on a serious accident that occurred involving an American Eagle aircraft,” said Isom in the video, which was aired on MSNBC
The aircraft was operated by PSA Airlines, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines. First, and most importantly, I’d like to express our deep sorrow about these events.
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This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, partners, first responders, along with their families and loved ones. I know that there are many questions, and at this early stage, I’ll not be able to answer all of them.
But I do want to share the information I have at this time. American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, a CRJ-700 aircraft traveling from Wichita, Kansas to Washington Reagan National Airport has been involved in an accident near Washington, D.C.
It appears to have collided with a military aircraft on approach. Flight 5342 was under the command of four crew members and carried 60 passengers for a total of 64 people on board. We are actively working with local, state, and federal authorities on emergency response efforts and the American Airlines care team has been activated to assist our passengers and their families.
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We’re cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can. Our cooperation is without pause and we want to learn everything we can about today’s events.
That work will take time, but anything we can do now, we’re doing, and right now that means focusing on taking care of all passengers and crew involved, as well as their families.
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Members of our go team will be on their way to Washington, D.C. and I’ll be heading there shortly as well. We know that many people will be concerned for the welfare of their loved ones, and we’ve set up a special helpline friends and family can call at 1-800-679-8215.
He continued, “We understand and appreciate that people are eager for information. Please know that we’ll continue to share accurate and timely information as soon as we can, but anything we must report must be accurate.
We owe that to everyone involved. Our team of highly-trained professionals will be working around the clock to support our passengers, crew, and their families however we can and we’ll update you as soon as we can. Thank you.”
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Watch the video’;
