Flight from PBIA to DC delayed after deadly crash between jet and Army aircraft
No fatalities or injuries were reported on American Airlines Flight 2297 from PBIA. That flight left Palm Beach County at 6:37 p.m. on Wednesday, scheduled to land at 8:59 p.m. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C.
American Airlines Flight 5342 left Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Kansas at 5:22 p.m. local time on Wednesday, headed to Reagan National. As the jet flew over the Potomac River separating Virginia and Washington D.C. before 9 p.m., it crashed into an Army helicopter and plummeted into the water. Officials believe everyone on board was killed.
Flight 2297 from PBIA was headed north about 9:07 p.m. up the Potomac to Reagan National when air traffic control had it diverted away from the airport. The flight circled the area for about 20 minutes before flying northwest to Dulles International Airport, landing at 9:29 p.m., flight path data from airplane tracking website FlightAware shows.
If you were aboard Flight 2297 and witnessed the midair crash, please contact The Palm Beach Post at breakingnews@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PBIA-DC flight diverted after crash between jet and Army aircraft

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
The Army has realized that horses are no longer good for ‘warfighting'
Goodbye horses, the Army's over you. The Army is drastically scaling back its Military Working Equid program, the Army term for the service's contingent of horses, donkeys and mules. With a few exceptions for ceremonial horse teams, the equine operations will wind down over the next year at five Army bases, with animals being donated or transferred to private owners, the Army announced last week. Why the drawdown? According to the Army, it's 'to align more resources with warfighting capability and readiness.' 'This initiative will save the Army $2 million annually and will allow the funds and soldiers dedicated to [Military Working Equid] programs to be redirected to readiness and warfighting priorities,' according to the Army's release. The 'warfighting priorities' were not specified. The Department of Defense currently owns 236 horses, mules and donkeys, which are housed and cared for on Army bases, Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro told Task & Purpose on Monday. The one-year reduction will see the closure of MWE programs at bases in California, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas: Fort Irwin, Fort Huachuca, Fort Riley, Fort Sill and Fort Hood. The Army will keep horse teams at two locations, including the 3rd Infantry Regiment, or 'the Old Guard,' at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, which restarted its caisson services in June after a two-year pause following the death of two horses. That effort saw the Army invest more than $18 million in new real estate and equipment for the horses. Though the age of the war horse is long gone, horses have not been totally absent from combat use in the modern Army. Army Special Forces soldiers famously used horses with the Northern Alliance during the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 — those horses were provided by Afghan partners. The last time the Army staged an outright cavalry charge was 83 years ago during World War II. The 26th Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines, made up of American and Filipino fighters, resisted Japanese forces with horseback tactics. On Jan. 16, 1942, Lt. Edward Ramsey led a mounted force into the village of Morong. When the cavalry encountered a larger Japanese infantry force, Ramsey ordered them forward, even yelling 'charge!' The horse-based assault was so sudden and shocking it pushed the Japanese forces back. According to the Army, equine veterinarian experts will oversee the drawdown of the MWE animals. They will be donated or adopted by outside parties. The latest on Task & Purpose Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps learns an old lesson: Don't mess with Audie Murphy A breakdown of safety procedures 'directly contributed' to an 82nd Airborne paratrooper's death WWII Marine Raider who fought at Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal wants cards for 100th birthday Navy identifies special warfare sailor killed while parachuting Pentagon appears to pause renaming of Navy ships Solve the daily Crossword


Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Homewood ceremony pays tribute to nearly forgotten veteran who died in 1995 heat wave
Emilio Aguirre, a World War II combat veteran, died in his apartment in Chicago 30 years ago, not from illness, nor injury. Aguirre died just two weeks before his 82nd birthday from heat as temperatures reached up to what felt like 125 degrees during the 1995 Chicago heat wave. For nearly three decades, the Army veteran's death stood lonely, unrecognized and forgotten. Despite being a Bronze Star recipient, there was no formal military funeral, no proper headstone or marker. That changed last month with a headstone placed at Aguirre's final resting spot at Homewood Memorial Gardens, where he had been buried with 41 other heat wave victims and other unclaimed or unknown city residents. And on Thursday, 30 years to the day after his death, Aguirre received full military funeral honors. 'Today , we say your name. Today, we honor your life,' said Kevin Barszcz, director of Chicago's Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs, as he opened Thursday's service. Retired Army Capt. Monika Stoy traveled from Washington, D.C., to pay tribute to Aguirre, who had no family at the service. 'I'm going to address him as a family member,' Stoy said, adding his service was filled with fellow veterans — 'many extended members.' Stoy gave a detailed description of Aguirre's military history, including accounts of his service in the 3rd Infantry division. Along with numerous awards and medals, Story said, he spent six weeks fighting in one of the war's most difficult battles on January 21, 1944. Aguirre 'survived World War II, a POW camp just to die in a heat wave in Chicago,' she said. George R. Gandara, a Marine Corps League chaplain and member of the indigenous Yaqui tribe, conducted a traditional Native American ceremony, offering prayers and blessings to the fallen soldier. This ceremony was 'for the soul of Emilio,' he said. Holding an owl wing, where each feather represents a distinct symbol, Gandera wafted scented smoke onto Aguirre's headstone, his picture and others there to pay their respect. Baszcz said piecing together Aguirre's story was an 'all hands effort.' Because Aguirre saved his paperwork, veterans rights activist Charles Henderson, of Chicago's Harold Washington American Legion Post 1987, was able to secure a proper, labeled headstone. Henderson began investigating Aguirre's story during the pandemic after he was mentioned in a documentary, 'Cooked: Survival by Zip Code.' Henderson connected to Barszcz who helped him get the remaining piece of Aguirre's story — his discharge papers. Henderson said Aguirre came to the United States from Mexico as a teenager 'to establish the American dream.' Born in 1914 in Cuajimalpa de Morelos, Mexico, Aguirre crossed into Laredo, Texas, at the age of 13. Even before becoming a U.S. citizen, Aguirre 'answered to serve his adopted county, when he did not have to,' Barszcz said. The hero served honorably in one of the first divisions to enter the European Theater, the 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. Before being captured in Italy in 1944, Aguirre fought in the Naples-Foggia and Rome-Arno campaigns. He spent more than 400 days as prisoner of war in Germany's Stalag II-B camp, until the war's end. Aguirre received the POW Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge and several other campaign and service medals. After his service, Aguirre became a naturalized U.S. citizen and worked in the railway industry in the city. When Aguirre's body was found 30 years ago, it was obvious that he held pride as a soldier and for his service. Among the belongings found in his studio apartment, Aguirre had his Bronze star certificate and his military picture near him. 'He believed it was his duty to fight for a county he believed in,' Henderson said. Other belongings, including a wristwatch, naturalization certificate and his military photograph, have waited in storage since his death. The items were presented and honored in Thursday's tribute. As slight tears ran down Henderson's cheeks, the veteran advocate gave Aguirre a send-off in Spanish. 'Emilio tu gente está aquí contigo, si se puede,' he said. 'Emilio, your people are here with you, if possible.' Judith Helfand, producer of the 'Cooked' documentary that initially brought Aguirre's story to light, said the 1995 heat wave 'was a disaster, but underlying is another disaster.' Aguirre's was just one of hundreds of deaths during those sweltering weeks, and his is just one story in a lot of 40 others in Homewood. Eric Klinenberg, author of 'Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago,' and who has researched the 1995 heat wave for decades said Aguirre's ceremony was 'a full circle turn' from the years of denial in the wake of the disastrous loss of life. He said information on the victims of the heat wave is constantly being discovered, investigated and humanized, but hundreds of stories still exist in silence. 'This is someone who lived an enormous life,' Klinenberg said. 'Today we are not looking away. Today, we are here together. We are here to honor Emilio, to restore his name, and to commit to each other that we don't let things like this happen again.' Homewood historian Elaine E. Egdorf attended Thursday's ceremony, just as she did when Aguirre was buried three decades ago. Egdorf has 'at least 20 immediate relatives' at Homewood Memorial Gardens, and previously organized historic cemetery walks at the site. Before the event, Egdorf said mounds on the site provide more space for markers for those who remain unclaimed. Although not much is known of Aguirre's life after the war, his 'story just goes on,' she said. As more information gets pieced together on Aguirre's life, reminders of hundreds like Aguirre daunt historians like Egdorf. 'How many other stories are we missing?' she asked.

Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Wall Street Journal
How I Learned About Homemaking From a Couple of Birds
'About Face' is a column about how someone changed their mind. I've never had much of a sense of home. Before the age of 21, I'd moved house roughly 20 times, from the army base in West Germany where I was born to YMCA housing in southern England in my late teens. My itinerant childhood gave me itchy feet as an adult. Wherever I landed, I'd soon feel pulled toward the next place, and then the next.