Passenger jet, Army helicopter collide, crash into River

An American Airlines regional passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the frigid Potomac River after a midair collision near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, officials said.

CBS News reported that at least 18 bodies had been recovered so far, citing a police official.

Two sources told Reuters that multiple bodies had been pulled from the water.
American Airlines confirmed that 64 people were aboard the jet: 60 passengers and four crew members.

Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter, a U.S. official said.
Relatives gathered at the airport said they were getting little to no information from officials about the incident, adding that they were hearing more about the incident from news reports.

One woman told an airport official, “I don’t know if she got on there or not,” in apparent reference to a passenger on the crashed jet.
She then collapsed in tears.

Hamaad Raza told local CBS affiliate WUSA that he was at Reagan airport waiting for his wife.

“She texted me that she was landing in 20 minutes,” he said.

“The rest of my text didn’t … did not get delivered. That’s when I realised that something might be up.

“I’m just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now.”
The U.S. Army said in a statement that it could “confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia.”

There has not been a fatal U.S. passenger airplane accident since February 2009, but a series of near-miss incidents in recent years have raised serious safety concerns.

In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, killing 70 passengers and four crew members.

Only four passengers and one crew member survived.

A web camera shot from the Kennedy Center in Washington showed an explosion mid-air across the Potomac about 8:47 p.m. (0147 GMT) with an aircraft in flames falling rapidly.

PSA was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the FAA.

“We’re cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a video statement.

Police said multiple agencies were involved in a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, which borders the airport.

Dozens of police, ambulance and rescue units, some ferrying boats, staged along the river and raced to positions along the tarmac of Reagan airport.

Live TV images showed several boats in the water, flashing blue and red lights.
The airport said late on Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings had been halted as emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement that he had been “fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport.”

“May God bless their souls,” he added.
“Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20 and the Trump administration has not named a replacement – or even disclosed who is running the agency on an interim basis.
The last deadly major crash involving a commercial airliner in the U.S. was in 2009, when all 49 people aboard a Colgan Air flight died when the plane crashed in New York state. One person also died on the ground. (Reuters/NAN)

BREAKING; NLC declare nationwide protest

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has announced a nationwide protest set for Tuesday, February 4, 2025, in response to the recent approval of a 50% increase in telecommunications tariffs by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The decision was reached after an emergency meeting of the NLC’s National Administrative Council (NAC) in Abuja on Wednesday .

The union condemned the tariff hike as “insensitive and unjustifiable,” arguing that it places an additional financial burden on Nigerian workers and the general public, who are already struggling with rising inflation, high food prices, electricity tariff increases, and the lingering effects of petrol subsidy removal.

Labour centre last week categorically rejected the NCC’s decision, calling for its immediate suspension.

The union warned that Nigerian workers, earning a minimum wage of ₦70,000, could not afford the increase, which it described as a “direct assault” on the people.

Despite its initial call for dialogue, the government has yet to address the union’s concerns, which has prompted the latest decision to mobilise for mass action.

In a communique signed by the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the congress directed all its affiliates and state councils to begin full mobilisation ahead of the February 4 nationwide protest rally.

The labour union further warned that if the government fails to reverse the tariff increase, it may escalate its actions, including a potential nationwide boycott of telecommunication services and a broader industrial action.

The communique reads, “NAC-in-session totally rejected the 50% Telecom Tariff Hike which it considers as too harsh for citizens.

“To express our collective opposition to this arbitrary tariff hike, the NLC will embark on a nationwide mass rally on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. The rally will serve as a warning on the dangers of imposing such an unfair increase on a struggling population earning a minimum wage of only ₦70,000; a population that has suffered outrageous hike in the price of petrol, high cost of food, hike in electricity tariff and general rising inflation.

Nigeria Govt prepared to welcome deported citizens amid US crackdown

The Federal Government of Nigeria has signaled its readiness to welcome Nigerians potentially deported from the United States as part of a recent crackdown on illegal immigration.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) made this announcement following growing concerns about the fate of Nigerians in the US facing deportation.

Abdur-Rahman Balogun, the Director of Media and Corporate Affairs at NIDCOM, confirmed in a Tuesday interview that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is overseeing the matter.

He also revealed that an inter-agency committee had already been set up to address the situation if deportations were to occur.

The committee includes representatives from NIDCOM, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and the National Security Adviser’s office.

However, Balogun emphasized that, as of now, the commission has not been informed of any Nigerians currently undergoing deportation procedures in the US.

“The Federal Government has set up an inter-agency committee, comprising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NIDCOM, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and the office of the National Security Adviser, to manage the situation should there be a large-scale deportation of Nigerians from the US,” he stated.

Reports suggest that around 3,690 Nigerians in the United States could be at risk of deportation as part of a broader immigration enforcement effort under President Donald Trump’s administration. According to a document from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) titled “Noncitizens on the ICE Non-Detained Docket with Final Orders of Removal by Country of Citizenship,” a significant number of individuals from various countries are facing removal orders.

Mexico and El Salvador top the list, with 252,044 and 203,822 individuals, respectively, while Nigerians are among the nationalities on the list, though significantly fewer in number.

As the US government moves forward with its crackdown, Nigeria has reassured its citizens that proper mechanisms are in place to manage the repatriation process should the need arise.