Pilot names possible cause of US plane crash

Major General, honored military pilot of the Russian Federation, candidate of technical sciences, independent expert Vladimir Popov has admitted that the plane crash over Washington could have occurred due to a difference in traffic control between civil and military aircraft.

In a conversation with Radio 1 on Thursday, January 30, the expert noted, organizational issues on the use of airspace in the airport area were hardly coordinated between military and passenger aviation.

"The civilians have more documented everything, that is, these are air navigation charts, mandatory control systems and 'ironclad systems' of approaches to land when performing certain maneuvers," the military pilot explained.

With the military, he said, everything is more dynamic and can change, as they usually work on a stopover basis.

Popov also added that the military helicopter pilot may have had limited radio awareness and visual vision.

Gone under water: in the U.S., an airplane collided with a helicopter near the Potomac River

Extensive work is underway, divers are retrieving bodies

On January 30, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were Russian citizens on the plane that crashed in Washington. Peskov said Russian figure skaters were on board the passenger plane. He expressed condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the airplane crash.

It is noted that on board the airplane of American Airlines, preliminary, there were eight skaters and four coaches.

Air crash with a passenger plane and a military helicopter occurred in Washington on January 29 at Reagan Airport. A Bombardier CRJ700 airplane flying from Wichita and a U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 military helicopter, which was approaching for landing, collided in the air. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River. There were 64 people aboard the passenger plane, including four crew members. There were three military personnel in the helicopter.

On the same day, NBC News reported that the bodies of more than 30 victims were recovered from the Potomac River at the site of the airplane crash in Washington.

US President Donald Trump called the airplane crash that occurred in Washington terrible. He said that the tragedy could have been avoided if the helicopter crew had changed course.