D.C. Fire Boat Captain Calls Response to Plane, Helicopter Crash a 'Nightmare'
Two members of D.C. Fire and EMS who worked amid the wreckage of the mangled American Airlines jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter recalled responding to the scene, with one of them calling it a "nightmare."
“Having some years of experience and seeing a lot of things, that night – it’s some of the worst things imaginable,” D.C. Fire and EMS marine pilot CJ Isbell told NBC Washington. “It was one of those situations where it just didn’t seem to stop. Just because of the sheer volume, the number of people, the area, the debris field.”
Isbell added, “It’s something you expect to see in movies, not real-life in D.C.”
He talked with the television station, along with D.C. Fire and EMS diver Steve Hater, to explain what they encountered on Jan. 29, when an Army helicopter crashed into an American Airlines flight that was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The collision, which sent both aircraft into the Potomac River, claimed the lives of 67.
For the first time since the plane crash over the Potomac River that claimed 67 lives, two D.C. firefighters who were among the first to arrive on the scene shared their stories.
“I don’t think anything, regardless of time on job and what you’ve see in your careers, ever prepares you for the magnitude of what we saw that night,” Hater told the television station.
Isbell said a phone call alerted his crew to the crash, and they moved to the boat to respond and they made it to the scene in less than 10 minutes.
Unable to see anything, despite on-board thermal imaging and night vision equipment, Isbell said the smell of jet fuel was the first thing they noticed as they closed in.
“We saw part of the fuselage sticking out of the water, large debris field, lots of jet fuel. We went immediately to the fuselage, and for us, we started to recover some victims that were right at the fuselage," Isbell said. "But seeing some habitable space potential for survivors in the fuselage, we came up and started to search inside the fuselage, for the hope that there may be a space for a survivor."
Isbell recalled the chaotic scene, saying the strong presence of jet fuel, lights from vehicles on the shorelines and those used on the water created a sensory overload.
“The visibility was actually really clear, partially due to cold water, cold weather, cold temps, the ice that we had in the days and weeks prior,” Hater said. “We probably had 6 feet or so of visibility, which is usually unheard of. As far as what you saw underneath there, it was a mangled mess that you were trying to make sense of. Like, what am I, you know, what am I looking at here?”
Since the tragic crash, both firefighters said they are working on healing from the trauma they encountered.
“I've talked to some people, and my wife and the family support. Talking to the brothers, talking to the ones that were there. You know, being able to openly talk is probably, I'd say, one of the bigger helps for me,” Hater explained.
