WATCH: Horrifying Video Shows American Airlines Jet and Black Hawk Chopper Go Up In Fireball Blaze Mid-Air — Leaving Experts STUMPED Over How it Happened
The shocking moment was captured by a webcam at the John F. Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts.
Jan. 30 2025, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
The exact moment American Airlines Flight 5342 and a helicopter crashed mid-air and exploded was captured on camera.
The aircraft, said to be carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, all died – as did all on the Black Hawk chopper, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The crash involving an American Airlines flight and a Black Hawk helicopter was captured on camera.
The clip, posted on X by EarthCam, shows a webcam at the John F. Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts which was able to capture the horrific crash on Wednesday evening.
In the video, bright lights are seen in the sky, with one of the lights, believed to be another plane, flying upwards. Another flashing light is seen moving across the sky, before a smaller light is then spotted flashing and flying towards it.
Just seconds later, the aircrafts collide and burst into flames, as smoke and debris fall from the jets into the Potomac River soon after.
A rescue operation quickly followed after the crash, with emergency services scouring the Potomac River looking for passengers. While many bodies have reportedly been recovered, all passengers are believed to be dead.
Officials are still scrambling to find the cause of the crash, with many already pointing fingers at one another.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, without a full investigation, put the blame on the helicopter pilot.
"At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft," he said.
Officials are now desperately trying to figure out the cause of the crash.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, however, said the crash could have been avoided: "It was, I would say, standard communication, so there was not a breakdown ... in communication between the military helicopter and the American airline flight.
"There was communication between the aircraft and the tower. I would say that the helicopter was aware that the plane was in the area.
"We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but… what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely."
'I think this was preventable? Absolutely,' Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Meanwhile, new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed in a video statement: "We do know on our side who was involved. It was a fairly experienced crew, and that was doing a required annual night evaluation.
"We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the quarter at the right altitude at the time of the incident."
President Donald Trump also went off during a briefing at the White House, blaming former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden for their diversity initiatives.
"I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first," the 78-year-old falsely said.
Some of the victims from the crash have already been identified including Asra Hussain, whose husband Hamaad Raza was interviewed as he waited for her fate.
He told news channel WUSA9 of his wife's final words: "She texted me that they were landing in 20 minutes. The rest of my texts didn't get delivered and that's when I realized that something might be up."
"I'm just praying that somebody's pulling her out of the river right now, as we speak. That's all I can pray for, I'm just praying to God," Raza added.
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Many of the victims from the crash have been identified, including Asra Hussain (R).
Other victims included 14 figure skaters.
Doug Zeghibe, CEO and executive director for the Skating Club of Boston, revealed six of the victims were from his club.
"Our sport and this club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy," he said in a statement.
Zeghibe continued: "Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together six or seven days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family. We are devastated and completely at a loss for words."
