Search and rescue crew face dangerously cold Potomac River waters after DC plane crash
Search and rescue crew face dangerously cold Potomac River waters after DC plane crash
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Life-threatening hypothermia can occur in waters much warmer than the Potomac is this week. Crews working to retrieve the passengers of the American Airlines jet and the army helicopter that collided and crashed into the Potomac on Wednesday night have to contend with the dangerously cold waters of the Potomac River.
![[Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River on Thursday in Arlington, Virginia. The river’s waters at much colder this month than they were in January 2023]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/30/15/39/GettyImages-2196773787.jpeg)
Water temperatures between 33 and 36 degrees were reported near the crash site shortly after the incident, which is believed to have taken the lives of all who were involved. Just a degree below is considered to be freezing. “At these frigid water temperatures, the human body’s core temperature quickly drops. Exhaustion or unconsciousness can occur in as little as 15 to 30 minutes,” AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecast Operations Dan DePodwin explained in a statement.
On Thursday, the weather will remain chilly and dry, the forecasting company said, with winds between five and 10 miles an hour. Highs are in the low 50s before rain arrives in the area early Friday morning. The temperature was near 50 degrees with faster winds at the time of the crash.
DePodwin says the Potomac waters are much colder now than at the same time last year. “It’s been much colder than the historical average in Washington, D.C., this month due to persistent blasts of Arctic air. This has caused the Potomac River to be colder than it is typically at this time of year, with ice on parts of the river.” he explained. “Last year at this time, the water in the Potomac River was about 10 degrees warmer.”.
