We Reveal Forensic Minute-by-Minute Reconstruction of How American Airlines Jet Smashed Into Black Hawk Helicopter in Mid-Air — Leaving NO Survivors
An American Airlines flight collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, leaving over 60 dead.
Jan. 30 2025, Published 1:15 p.m. ET
Tragedy struck on Wednesday night as a packed passenger jet and U.S. Army helicopter collided and plummeted into the Potomac River.
RadarOnline.com can reveal a minute-by-minute breakdown of the catastrophe as rescue teams and investigators dig deeper into the disaster, which has been confirmed to have left over 60 dead.
A fireball lit the sky as the plane and helicopter collided on Wednesday night.
The fatal crash occurred just before 9 p.m. ET as an American Airlines flight with 64 passengers was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
By Thursday morning, over 30 bodies had been recovered from the icy river, and authorities confirmed there were no survivors. A temporary morgue has been set up in Washington, D.C. to store the bodies following the tragedy.
This tragic incident marks the first fatal U.S. commercial airline crash since 2009.
The accident occurred when a Black Hawk helicopter, on a training mission, crossed into the flight path of the American Airlines jet.
Neither aircraft seemed aware of the other's presence as they approached from opposite directions in the night sky. The two collided just 400 feet from the ground, exploding on impact and plummeting into the freezing Potomac River below.
Over 300 rescue workers immediately rushed to the scene, deploying inflatable boats and powerful searchlights to comb the dark waters in a desperate attempt to find any survivors.
This tragic incident marks the first fatal U.S. commercial airline crash since 2009, when 50 lives were lost in a Bombardier DHC-8 crash in Buffalo, New York.
Here's a play-by-play on how it all unfolded:
American Airlines flight 5342, a CRJ700 Bombardier, took off from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.
The plane, which has a capacity of 70, was operating well within its limits on a routine domestic flight – according to onlookers.
Just minutes before the plane was set to land, air traffic controllers asked the crew if they could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National, to which the pilots quickly confirmed they could.
The aircraft was then cleared to land on Runway 33, and flight tracking data indicated that it adjusted its approach accordingly.
Meanwhile, a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, departing from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, entered the same airspace near Reagan National Airport.
This airspace, located just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol, is among the most tightly controlled and closely monitored in the world.
Previous flights had all landed on the main runway at Reagan National, leading to speculation that the Black Hawk pilots may have expected the plane to do the same.
They may not have been aware of the change in flight path.
The helicopter was reportedly on a training mission, according to a U.S. Army spokesperson, though no further details were provided.
The devastating crash took place at an altitude of just 400 feet and less than two miles from the runway
Military aircraft routinely conduct training exercises in and around the highly restricted airspace near Washington, D.C. to ensure operational readiness and maintain continuity of government plans.
Less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked the Black Hawk, identified by its callsign PAT25, if it had the incoming American Airlines flight in view.
Another radio transmission was made to the helicopter just moments later at 8:47 p.m. ET, just minutes before the American Airlines flight was expected to land.
The air traffic controller instructed: "PAT25 do you see a CRJ? PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ."
Moments later, the night sky over D.C. lit up with a fiery explosion as the two aircraft collided mid-air.
The devastating crash took place at an altitude of just 400 feet and less than two miles from the runway. American Airlines flight 5342 was flying at 140 mph when it struck the Black Hawk helicopter.
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Air traffic control recordings captured controllers' stunned reactions as the crash unfolded in real time.
One controller exclaimed: "Oh, oh my god! Tower, did you see that?"
Another immediately issued a crash alert, while a third confirmed: "Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river."
Controllers described seeing a fireball after the collision and noted: "I haven't seen anything since they hit the river."
Aviation experts suggest that Washington's use of two separate radio frequencies for helicopters and other aircraft may have created a "barrier of situational awareness" between pilots, contributing to the crash.
Footage from the Kennedy Center has since been released, showing the approaching aircraft and the fiery collision that followed.
Washington, D.C. quickly launched an extensive rescue operation in the hours after the crash.
