How did Washington DC plane crash unfold? A visual guide
Footage from a security camera at the airport shows the moment of the collision.
Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River. Emergency responders said they did not believe there were any survivors.
American Eagle Flight 5342 was operated by PSA Airlines, an Ohio-based regional subsidiary of American Airlines. The plane was a CRJ700, the airline said, from a line of regional jets made by Canada's Bombardier, later sold to Mitsubishi.
It was flying from Wichita, Kansas, and its passengers included ice skaters, family and coaches returning from events in the city.
The helicopter was a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk. It had been on a military training flight and was operating out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, south of Washington DC.
A few minutes before the jet was due to land, air traffic controllers asked the pilots if they could land on a shorter runway than the north-south runway it was originally heading for, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land and the plane adjusted its approach to the new runway, as seen in this view:
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later, calling on its pilot to 'pass behind' the jet. There was no reply. Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.
The Washington region has three major airports, but Reagan National, which lies on the Potomac, is by far the closest to the capital.
The crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the US. The airspace is extremely busy, with military and commercial craft ferrying thousands of passengers, including top government and military officials. This satellite image highlight's the airport's proximity to the centre of DC.
Because of the short length of the runways at Reagan National, more than 90% of flights use its main north-south runway, making it the busiest runway in the US, with more than 800 daily takeoffs and landings.
There have been several near-miss incidents at Reagan National that have sparked alarm, including a near-collision in May 2024 between an American Airlines jet and a small aeroplane, and one in April 2024 between Southwest and JetBlue planes.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Horrifying new video showing Black Hawk's deadly mid-air crash with American Airlines jet is played at hearing as final words of chopper pilot are revealed
A horrifying video showing the moment a US Army Black Hawk helicopter smashed into a passenger jet over Washington, DC, has been released, as investigators reveal the final words of the doomed crew. The footage, captured by CCTV and played at the start of a three-day National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing, shows a bright flash lighting up the night sky above the Potomac River. Seconds earlier, the military chopper had collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 as it descended into Reagan National Airport. The Bombardier CRJ700 had been flying from Wichita, Kansas, on January 29 and was just minutes from landing when it was hit. All 67 people on board the two aircraft were killed, including 63 passengers and crew on the jet and four helicopter crew members, marking the deadliest US airline crash in more than two decades. The Black Hawk, operating as Priority Air Transport 25, had been on a low-level training mission and was flying back to Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Investigators now believe the crew thought they were flying 100 feet higher than they actually were due to faulty altimeter readings. The NTSB revealed that about three minutes before the crash, Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves told co-pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach to 'come down for me' and fly at 200 feet because they were currently at 300 feet. The footage was captured by CCTV and played at the start of a three-day National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing All 67 people on board the two aircraft were killed, including 63 passengers and crew on the jet and four helicopter crew members The route down the river on which the chopper was on has a maximum altitude of 200 feet near the airport, according to the NTSB's presentation. Two minutes before impact, air traffic control warned them about the approaching passenger plane. A second warning followed 90 seconds later. In both times, the helicopter crew told controllers they could see the jet and asked for 'visual separation' to allow them to navigate around the flight. The controller also told the helicopter to pass behind the passenger plane, but that instruction was not heard by the crew. Twenty seconds before the crash, Eaves said: 'Alright, kinda come left for me ma'am, I think that's why he's asking.' Lobach replied: 'Sure.' Eaves added: 'We're kinda out towards the middle.' Lobach responded: 'Okay fine.' The helicopter and the jet collided at 8:48pm, causing a bright fiery flash in the night sky. Meanwhile, in the American Airlines cockpit, the pilots used expletives when they saw the impending crash and attempted to pull the plane up just seconds before. NTSB investigators later carried out test flights using three similar helicopters over the Potomac. They found that downwash from the rotor blades consistently interfered with barometric altimeter readings, making it appear they were higher than they really were. The board also heard the Black Hawk crew had been suffering from burnout, raising fresh concerns about their decision-making on the night of the crash. Air traffic controllers have also come under scrutiny following reports that there were staffing problems at the airport on the day of the crash. Thousands of pages of records have now been made publicly available as part of the investigations.
The Independent
6 days ago
- The Independent
Last conversation between Army helicopter pilot and instructor revealed before fatal American Airlines crash
New details have been disclosed about the final moments before an Army helicopter collided in mid-air with an American Airlines passenger jet in January over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Thousands of pages of records have been released publicly as part of the government's ongoing investigation into the crash, which resulted in 67 deaths. The information raises further questions about whether the crew of the Black Hawk helicopter was aware of its actual altitude and whether it was on a collision course with the Bombardier CRJ700 jet. Included in the newly released records are the final words spoken by two members of the Army helicopter crew, Capt. Rebecca Lobach and her instructor, Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves. The National Transportation Safety Board started a three-day hearing on Wednesday (July 30) about the January 29 crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. There were emotional moments as family members of the victims broke down upon hearing some of the details. All 64 people on American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, were killed along with the three crew members on the military aircraft. Culpability for the accident remains unclear, with questions about whether the collision was due to a mistake by the helicopter crew or if other factors contributed to the incident. Air traffic controllers have also come under scrutiny for their decisions amid reports of staffing issues at Reagan National Airport that day. Helicopters have long flown near the airport, which is known for its notorious congestion. An 11-minute presentation and animation by the NTSB illustrated the circumstances that led to the crash and confirmed details already released by the authorities. The American Airlines pilots were instructed to switch runways approximately five minutes before landing, which they did. Reagan has three runways, the longest (the busiest in the nation) runs parallel to the river, with two shorter runways intersecting it at angles. The pilots were instructed to realign with the northern of the two shorter strips. Meanwhile, the helicopter was flying back to Fort Belvoir in Virginia as part of a night evaluation of Capt. Lobach under the instruction of Eaves. Staff Sgt. Ryan O'Hara was also on board. According to the NTSB presentation, the route down the river on which the helicopter was flying has a maximum altitude of 200 feet near the airport. However, the aircraft continued to fly above that level, reaching heights of more than 300 feet. Officials stated that the crew appeared to believe they were much lower than that, at times claiming they were about 100 feet below their actual altitude. One reason could be because of an error with their altimeter. About three minutes before the crash, Eaves told Lobach to 'come down for me' and fly at 200 feet because they were at 300 feet, the presentation revealed. Two minutes before the crash, an air traffic controller warned them about the approaching passenger plane. Another warning followed 90 seconds later. Both times, the helicopter crew confirmed they could see the plane. They requested 'visual separation,' allowing them to navigate around the incoming flight. The second time, the controller instructed the helicopter to pass behind the passenger plane, but the helicopter crew had keyed its microphone — pushed the button to talk — at the same time as the controller and never heard the instruction, according to the flight recorder. Twenty seconds before the crash, Eaves told Lobach: 'Alright, kinda come left for me ma'am, I think that's why he's asking.' She replied: 'Sure.' Eaves said: 'We're kinda out towards the middle.' Lobach responded: 'Okay fine.' The Black Hawk was at 270 feet above the river, and the American Airlines plane continued its landing approach, passing through 320 feet in altitude. They collided at 8:48 p.m. in a fiery explosion, shown in newly released security camera footage. Investigators stated in the hearing that the helicopter crew had no prior knowledge of the impending crash. In the cockpit of the American Airlines jet, the pilots used expletives and tried to pull the plane up in the seconds before. Part of the investigation focused on testing the helicopter altimeter, a report on which indicated potential discrepancies between the barometric altitude and the radio altitude. A test flight over the Potomac revealed that the barometric altitude was consistently about 100 feet lower than the radio and geometric altitudes over the water. Additionally, the barometric altimeter was obscured during the helicopter flight. To address this, Senator Ted Cruz has introduced legislation called 'The Rotor Act,' which requires all aircraft to transmit their location to other aircraft and air traffic controllers — a system known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B). This is currently only required on aircraft that fly above 18,000 feet, though some aircraft, including those operated by the military, are exempt from ADS-B for security reasons. The NTSB recommended that the FAA require ADS-B on all aircraft as long ago as 2008. 'The mistake was that this was not unforeseen. We had 84 near misses in the three years before in the D.C. airspace, and no one did anything,' Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters. 'Someone was asleep at the wheel. Someone should have seen that.' The three-day hearing will also include an examination of FAA oversight of Washington airspace.
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Helicopter in deadly DC airport collision was flying too high, NTSB says
Investigators have found the Army helicopter involved in a deadly mid-air collision over Washington DC was receiving faulty altitude data, causing it to fly higher than findings, revealed during National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing, indicate that the helicopter's altimeters - devices that tell pilots how high off the ground they are - showed discrepancies ranging from 80ft (24.4m) to 64 passengers onboard an American Airlines flight, along with three crew members on the helicopter, were killed in the 29 January are not expected to identify the cause of the crash at the hearing but will present insights into what led to the tragedy. The first day of the three-day hearing has focused on the military helicopter's altimeter, performance and navigation systems. The hearing opened on Wednesday with a video animation showing the path of the helicopter and airliner just before the of the crash victims attended the hearing, some wearing pictures of their loved ones around their necks or on Lilley, whose son Sam was the plane's first officer, told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that he hopes the hearing will help him learn more about those final moments."I know that my son saw that helicopter one second before impact, and they tried very hard to avoid it," Mr Lilley said. "Sam was a good pilot, and he would have been trying to fly that aircraft all the way, all the way to the bottom."
