Passengers stuck in Washington, D.C., following the deadly mid-air crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan airport slowly made their way back to Boston Thursday.
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A devastating mid-air collision over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night is impacted air travel across the country Thursday.
Reagan National Airport was closed for hours Friday after an American Airlines jet collided with a military helicopter. There were 64 people on board the American Airlines flight and three in the helicopter, with no survivors.
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According to Flight Aware, 11 flights from Reagan to Boston Logan International Airport were canceled and 13 from Logan to Reagan were canceled as of 6:30 a.m.
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Logan airport said in a social media post at 7:21 a.m. that due to the incident at Reagan, flights may be impacted and passengers are encouraged to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport.
Attention passengers: Due to an incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, flights may be impacted and passengers are encouraged to check the status of their flight before coming to the airport. pic.twitter.com/N232GhHgHQ
— Boston Logan International Airport (@BostonLogan) January 30, 2025
When the collision happened around 9 p.m., there was a plane to D.C. on the tarmac at Logan delayed due to a separate issue.
Passengers on board say while they were waiting for that issue to be resolved, the pilot came over the intercom and told them they wouldn’t be taking off and would have to deplane because Reagan was no longer accepting flights.
The pilot only told them there had been an incident, but didn’t give any details.
So when they deplaned and learned about this tragedy, they were devastated.
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“It’s heartbreaking because when you have the flight attendants come in and they tell you how to put on the lifejackets and what to do, you never really expect you’re going to have to be in that circumstance and it’s just really unfortunate and I am so sad," said Erin Reddick, who was on the canceled flight.
The situation in D.C. is fluid and passengers trying to fly into the area should check with their airline before heading to the airport. Some who spoke to NBC10 Boston said while the news is tragic, they still feel safe in the air.
“I still trust the safety of flying in the United States, I think the FAA does a really good job of maintaining the overall safety, so I do feel safe, but it would be good to understand what happened," said Robin Grace, who was flying to Tampa from Boston Thursday morning.