Wild American Airlines Conspiracy Theories Erupt — With Commentators Claiming Mid-Air Chopper Crash Was DELIBERATE as 'Military Helicopters Don't Fly Into Airplanes'
Officials believe all 67 people on board both aircrafts died in the collision.
Jan. 30 2025, Published 4:20 p.m. ET
Conspiracy theories have erupted online following the tragic mid-air crash between a military Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger airplane, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Around 9 PM on Wednesday night, January 29, American Airlines flight 5342 was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport outside of Washington D.C. in Arlington, Virginia, when it collided with the Black Hawk, sending it plummeting into the frozen Potomac River below.
Officials said they do not believe any passengers or crew on board either aircraft survived as rescue efforts shifted to recovery on Thursday, January 30, with at least 28 victims pulled from the river so far.
American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter as it was preparing to land at Reagan National Airport.
The American Airlines craft was said to have 60 passengers and four crew members on board, while the military helicopter had three passengers on its "training flight."
While information on the crash is slowly trickling out from authorities as the investigation is ongoing, social media users have already begun to question the accident – and spread their own theories on what really caused the fatal crash.
Some critics questioned how the incident could happen given modern technology and nearby air traffic control towers, with some claiming the incident was intentional as "military helicopters don't fly into planes."
Social media users claimed the fatal accident was a 'targeted hit.'
Others alleged the Black Hawk appeared to "chase" the passenger plane as they likened the scene to a "1970s style assassination."
Meanwhile, critics demanded to "know who was on that passenger plane" as they theorized the accident was a "targeted hit."
One X user wrote: "A army pilot who doesn't understand how to navigate close to an airport? Even if training? Yeah this smells bad."
On Instagram, one user commented on a video of the collision: "This looks deliberate to me. Watch this clip, especially the slow motion part, the plane is coming in to land and the helicopter comes in from the left and flies straight into it."
Chilling audio recordings from Air Traffic Control before the fatal incident occurred has surfaced.
Another user echoed: "Watch this clip, especially the slow motion part, the plane is coming in to land and the helicopter comes in from the left and flies straight into it."
As authorities worked through the night to recover victims while investigators review camera footage and air traffic control communications, President Donald Trump suggested DEI was to blame for fatal incident.
During a press conference at the White House briefing room, Trump called the incident a "a tragedy of terrible proportions," before swiftly changing his tone to attack the Obama and Biden administrations.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth admitted 'a mistake was made.'
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Trump said "brilliant people have to be in those positions" before baselessly claiming hiring practices were the root cause of the crash, citing FAA efforts to hire people with disabilities including dwarfism, intellectual disabilities, and those missing limbs.
He added: "A group within the FAA determined that the workforce was too white, then they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately. This was in the Obama administration."
The president then went on to slam Biden's Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, saying: "He's a disaster now. He's just got a good line of bulls‑‑-.
"Well he runs it, 45,000 people, and he's run it right into the ground with his diversity."
