Even for first responders who routinely encounter traumatic situations, the plane crash outside Reagan National Airport nearly three weeks ago was a devastating experience that took a significant toll, mentally and physically.
An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight and crashed into the icy Potomac River, killing 67 people.
“This is going to stick with them their entire careers,” said Dave Hoagland, president of the D.C. Firefighters Union Local 36. “This is going to be something they’re going to deal with their whole lives.”
The collision was the deadliest plane crash in the U.S. since 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five more on the ground.
More details about the Reagan National crash are emerging, including how first responders were exposed to an enormous amount of jet fuel that had pooled in the river.
“You know (when) you’re at a gas station in the summertime, and you see the vapor of the fuel coming off of the gas pump?” Hoagland said. “Just picture that all across the river, just this vapor coming out of the water.”
“Everybody was just coated with jet fuel,” he said, describing the scent as being “overwhelming.”
Some of the responders developed rashes and temporarily lost their sense of taste and smell due to the exposure.
The recovery efforts also took place in extreme conditions, with freezing temperatures and ice in the river. Hoagland said that after several hours of work, as responders made their way from the crash site back to shore, ice had already started reforming on the river.
“They were navigating all of those conditions and trying to move everything they recovered from the crash site back to shore,” Hoagland said. “We’re talking about the cumulative effects of the trauma, of the horrible scene that they encountered, but also the physical effects.”
Hoagland expressed gratitude for the upcoming figure skating tribute on March 2 at Capital One Arena that will honor those killed in the crash that were returning from events surrounding the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas.
The event will be cohosted by 1988 Olympic gold medalist Brian Boitano and feature performances by 2024 world champion Ilia Malinin, two-time U.S. champion Amber Glenn, and some of the sport’s most recognizable names, including Tara Lipinski, Johnny Weir, Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton.
Proceeds from the show will benefit the U.S. Figure Skating Family Support Fund, the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s DCA Together Relief Fund, and the D.C. Fire & EMS Foundation.
“The foundation is here … to help our members deal with the aftereffects of the incident … so that they can process that,” Hoagland said, referring specifically to the D.C. Fire & EMS Foundation. “This not only affects the responders — it affects their families, it affects their whole community, and we want to make sure … everybody’s able to deal with that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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