Alaska flyers remain steadfast despite deadly mid-air collision in DC involving jet airliner

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - No survivors have been discovered following a plane crash in Washington D.C. Wednesday night after an American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army helicopter during the jet’s descent into Ronald Reagan National Airport.

“It could happen to anybody,” Cecelia Nick, another traveler at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), said.

On Thursday morning, Alaska’s News Source spoke with over a dozen travelers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport regarding Wednesday night’s collision. The majority of them said that they were unaware that the crash occurred.

Several others said the news of the crash is not discouraging them from flying out.

“Not for myself. I’ve learned not to worry about those things,” Sterling resident Philip Gibson-Platt said. “It’s nothing I’m very concerned about. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m just going to go about my day.”

Alaska’s News Source also spoke with a few travelers who described themselves as nervous flyers and wanted to avoid thinking about the crash on a day they were flying out. Those travelers declined to speak on camera.

ANC released a statement on Facebook Friday afternoon stating, “All of us at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport extend our deepest condolences to those affected by the incidents at Reagan National Airport yesterday. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted, and we stand in support of our colleagues in the aviation community.”

American Airlines currently has no flight department from ANC. The airline, according to ANC, only offers a seasonal route during the summertime.

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