This is absolutely devastating. For the first time since 2009, there has been a fatal commercial aircraft crash involving an airline from the United States…
In this post:
Jet & helicopter crash near Washington National Airport
This accident happened around 8:46PM on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, near Washington National Airport (DCA).
It involves an American Eagle CRJ-700 operated by PSA Airlines (a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines), with the registration code N709PS, which was performing flight AA5342 from Wichita (ICT) to Washington (DCA).
While the plane was initially supposed to land on runway 1, the tower controller asked the pilots if they could instead land on runway 33, which they confirmed they could do. The plane was cleared to land, and as it was passing through an altitude of around 200 feet, a little over half a mile from the runway, it collided with a military Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter, with the registration code 00-26860. That helicopter had departed from CIA headquarters in Langley, though didn’t have any senior officials onboard (not that this makes the crash any less tragic).
As you’d expect, it’s pretty normal for military helicopters to use the airspace around Washington. The helicopter had been given the instructions to pass behind the American Eagle jet, but obviously that didn’t happen.
The American Eagle jet had a total of 64 people onboard (60 passengers and four crew members), while the military helicopter had three people onboard.
Both the plane and helicopter crashed into the Potomac River. The airport was subsequently closed, and isn’t expected to reopen until at least Friday morning. Unfortunately the efforts have now shifted from rescue to recovery, as it’s not believed that there are any survivors.
There are simply no words. My thoughts are with those onboard, and their families. What a horrible loss…
Below is a video that shows the collision.
Below is a video from VASAviation that shares both the air traffic control audio, plus the paths of the aircraft and helicopter.
Below is a video message from American CEO Robert Isom.
And below is what President Trump had to say about the accident.
What we know about the cause of this accident
Once immediate recovery efforts are complete, obviously the question will turn to what caused this accident. We know that the American Eagle jet was on a routine approach, following air traffic control instructions.
We also know the air traffic controller had given the military helicopter the instruction to pass behind the American Eagle jet, using visual flight rules. When the air traffic controller asked the military helicopter pilots if they had the American Eagle jet in sight, there was no response. Moments later, the helicopter collided with the jet.
It’s incredibly common for military helicopters to fly in this airspace. On Reddit, a military helicopter pilot provided some useful insights into what might have happened, and I think that’s probably the most valuable analysis we’ve seen so far.
Obviously we’ve had a major shortage of air traffic controllers in recent times, and a lot of airspace has been very congested. We’ve also seen a lot of close calls with favorable outcomes, but clearly this is one of those situations that ended in tragedy.
Some people are wondering how the helicopter pilots didn’t see the jet, and are even suggesting it was intentional. No way. There are so many lights in the sky at night, and even when pilots are asked if they have visual contact of another aircraft, it’s entirely possible they’re looking at another plane. Obviously something needs to change so this doesn’t happen in the future, but I can see how this could happen.
It’s worth mentioning that commercial aircraft are equipped with TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System), which is supposed to help pilots avoid midair collisions. Why wasn’t that helpful here? Well, when a plane is at an altitude of under 1,000 feet (as was the case here), TCAS only provides TAs (Traffic Advisories), alerting pilots of other planes nearby, and not RAs (Resolution Advisories), which give specific instructions about which action pilots should take.
Can we please try not to be ridiculous?
When there are accidents like this, it’s incredibly dismaying what gets attention, vs. what doesn’t. Reasonable analysis on the situation? Well, nope, that doesn’t interest many people. A conspiracy theory about CNN having had knowledge of the crash before it happened? Yep, that gets millions of views. And when it’s pointed out how this is false, there’s no apology, but rather just further amplification of the initial fake claim.
Of course this is just the society we live in nowadays, but how absurd to immediately make such baseless statements.
On the other end of the spectrum, I see a lot of people blaming President Trump for this. So, ummm, I think my thoughts on Trump are pretty obvious, but let’s be fair here:
- Yes, Trump froze the hiring of air traffic controllers because of his DEI obsession, but that has no immediate impact on existing air traffic controllers; even when they’re hired, it takes years for them to be fully certified and working
- Yes, Trump fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration, though I don’t see any argument for how that contributed to this crash just days later
- The Aviation Security Advisory Committee situation is the most concerning, but that would have more of an impact with how things change in the future, rather than anything that could’ve prevented this crash
Could Trump’s decisions impact the investigation and possible future staffing of air traffic controllers? Yes, that’s a possibility. Did Trump somehow cause this plane to crash? No…
Bottom line
Tragically, we’ve just seen our first major commercial aircraft crash in the United States since 2009, as an American Eagle CRJ-700 collided with a military Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter while on approach to Washington National Airport. The American Eagle jet was following instructions, while the military helicopter was supposed to stay clear of the jet, but obviously that didn’t happen.
There were a total of 64 people on the jet and three people on the helicopter. No survivors have been recovered… this is just beyond sad.
Anyone complaining about Ben "politicizing" this accident should instead be complaining about the President of the United States casting completely unfounded and uninformed speculation of a national tragedy. When someone with as big a voice as the President is spreading unfounded rumors, a responsible journalist should commentate on it.
Furthermore, it is commendable that Ben stayed balanced and also showed unreasonable people on the other political side
...until he wrote another article.
none of which moves the ball forward, no matter who said it.
Ben doesn't control the President. He does control his site. When he does exactly what he asked his readers not to do just a few hours ago, it is Ben's reputation that gets hurt.
Did no one watch reality TV before the 2016 election?
Ben runs an aviation blog, and the person with the largest microphone in the United States has been making wildly inaccurate claims about the accident. Pretty relevant to talk about
I know several skaters and their families who died on this flight. I was in Wichita last weekend. I am devastated. Our community is shattered.
I wish the Mad Orange God King would shut his trap, or at least give five seconds of thought to what he's going to say before he says it. Taking cheap political shots over dozens of dead bodies is callous and low, but sadly not unexpected.
Take the blinders off Petey, both sides are firing shots.
It was a fun four years without all the whataboutism.
Welcome back to silly season.
Yet Trump could just have said nothing but offering his condolences, promising an exhaustive investigation, maybe paying a quick visit to the area, anything a normal leader would doz but no. Of course people are going to push back against the stupid things he says. He shouldn't have brought politics into it at all, but he can't help himself. I don't disagree with everything he says and does just because he's Donald Trump, but let's...
Yet Trump could just have said nothing but offering his condolences, promising an exhaustive investigation, maybe paying a quick visit to the area, anything a normal leader would doz but no. Of course people are going to push back against the stupid things he says. He shouldn't have brought politics into it at all, but he can't help himself. I don't disagree with everything he says and does just because he's Donald Trump, but let's face it - whenever he's put on the spot it's immediately evident that he's both profoundly emotionally retarded, and he's just not that smart.
Prayers for the loved ones of the victims of this tragic accident.
It is common knowledge that there were issues at this airport. There were 2 incidents at DCA within the span of a month last year: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/another-near-miss-on-the-runway-at-reagan-national-airport-sparks-faa-investigation/3628167/
The former transportation secretary (which lucky loves btw) failed to address this ongoing issue and today we see the results.
Prayers for the loved ones of the victims of this tragic accident.
It is common knowledge that there were issues at this airport. There were 2 incidents at DCA within the span of a month last year: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transportation/another-near-miss-on-the-runway-at-reagan-national-airport-sparks-faa-investigation/3628167/
The former transportation secretary (which lucky loves btw) failed to address this ongoing issue and today we see the results.
Serious question, do we still have a NTSB to investigate? If so, will their primary focus be on whether women and minorities were involved, or will it be on aviation safety issues?
Who needs the NTSB or any sort of investigation? The monkey-in-chief has got it all figured out.
Orangutan-in-chief has already blamed Democrats and DEI.
This is a remarkable tragedy and I can't help but offer my deepest condolences to everyone here.
For most of this nation DCA is a familiar airport. We all have visited at some point in our lifetime. The approach is always stunning along the Potomac lined with monuments. While this is a horrific tragedy anywhere, perhaps more hearts are touched because we all carry special memories from this magnificent place that is our capitol. So my prayers for the victims and families extend to all of us that now share in their grief.
DC is a remarkable place despite the political nature there but the real reason why this hurts, I believe, is because it is very likely that the reason for this accident will be because of failures at some level of the federal government. US civilian airlines had a remarkable run of safety despite enormous challenges - and yet it was the government operating in ways that have existed under multiple administrations - that failed us.
...DC is a remarkable place despite the political nature there but the real reason why this hurts, I believe, is because it is very likely that the reason for this accident will be because of failures at some level of the federal government. US civilian airlines had a remarkable run of safety despite enormous challenges - and yet it was the government operating in ways that have existed under multiple administrations - that failed us.
Airlines are doing their job. The government, at some level, is not.
As a local, I fly AA in and out of that airport quite often. For those who may not be familiar with it DCA basically should not exist and would not be built today. The main reason it is open and expanded is that it's a 15 minute drive from Capitol Hill. DCA is sandwiched between the Potomac and Crystal City, which is a 1960s era office and retail complex. Joint base Anacostia-Bolling as across...
As a local, I fly AA in and out of that airport quite often. For those who may not be familiar with it DCA basically should not exist and would not be built today. The main reason it is open and expanded is that it's a 15 minute drive from Capitol Hill. DCA is sandwiched between the Potomac and Crystal City, which is a 1960s era office and retail complex. Joint base Anacostia-Bolling as across the river and the Pentagon a short distance up river. Point being that it is very congested and busy. My only surprise is that something like this didn't happen earlier.
My GUESS is that the change from runway one to 33 was a factor.
Sad day. Condolences to the families of the victims.
Oh, and as much as I hate Trump this is not a political issue.
There is a lot of infrastructure that exists that would not be built today, all things being equal.
Even though Americans throw things out when they are no longer the newest and have the best features, there are things that can and must be done to improve safety not just at DCA but other places where the military and commercial aviation work closely together.
Some of the basic assumptions, esp. about the way the...
There is a lot of infrastructure that exists that would not be built today, all things being equal.
Even though Americans throw things out when they are no longer the newest and have the best features, there are things that can and must be done to improve safety not just at DCA but other places where the military and commercial aviation work closely together.
Some of the basic assumptions, esp. about the way the military operates, need to be questioned and upended.
and DCA is not just convenient for lawmakers, it is more convenient for much of the DC area population just as LGA is for NYC.
DCA should mostly close. Dulles can handle it. Maybe keep National for LaGuardia shuttle flights? Or require at least a 737 or A320 sized plane and lower the perimeter to 499 miles? Make DCA like Santos Dumont or London City, very niche.
Or just don't allow routine crossings of active landing pathways by helicopters on non-urgent business.
There. Fixed it.
I knew we would find something on which we can agree.
I'm looking forward to the leaks that keep the story political.
We don't need leaks to make this political. Trump did that himself by blaming DEI and then admitting he has no evidence, just "common sense".
ICT has really limited service. One DCA flight is the only flight to the east coast. Is PSA short on planes? The flight for today is cancelled. Some dates this spring, no flights?
ICT also has AA to Miami.
Given the recent number of ATC close-calls, I always feared that this day would come.
May all these souls rest in peace.
That's an awful accident, my condolences to all those who lost someone.
It just goes to show that takeoff and landing are the most critical phases of the flight.
I'm sure most, if not all, of us don't even think about what can go wrong during takeoff or landing. They probably didn't even see it coming (no pun intended).
Considering that this is an aviation blog I’d bet almost all of us know that takeoff and landing are the most dangerous parts of a flight and are well aware of all the near misses that have been occurring lately.
US Defence secretary just released a video stating the crew of the black hawk dif have night vision goggles but from what he said it’s not clear if they were wearing them. RIP
With as much light pollution as you'd get over downtown DC, NVGs honestly might not even have been helpful.
Trump dissolved the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. Simple as.
The commercial aircraft was made by Bombardier.
Neither fact seems to matter one iota.
Take it elsewhere.
Trump fired the FAA Administrator last week.
Again, tell us the relevance. Whether it should have been or not, the circumstances of this accident have existed at DCA have existed for years
Does it bother you when I point out that Trump dissolved the Aviation Security Advisory Committee? I feel that aviation should be safer than what we saw last night.
Why did Trump impose an ATC hiring freeze?
it is clear you want to push against what Ben asked all readers not to do.
There is no relevance to these incidents as much as you want to bring them up.
I can guarantee you that the NTSB's report will say nothing about anything you wrote.
Seems to me that folks deserve answers for why Trump dissolved the Aviation Security Advisory Committee a week before this happened.
Also, wasn't the ICT-DCA route just added last year at the urging of Trump ally Sen. Jerry Moran, even though he knew that DCA was already at capacity?
again, irrelevant. but you have proven that you want to push the limits even as the country needs to be comforted and deserves answers about how to keep this from happening again.
Your political non-sense contribute nothing to that discussion.
there might be a day and place for answering your questions but this isn't it.
What does the ASAC which provides advice to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on aviation security matters… have anything to do with this incident?
Looks like it's been confirmed that Trump on Tuesday told every ATC that they could stay home and collect a paycheck for the next 8 months anyway if they agree to quit their jobs.
I can't stand Trump, but your comments in this thread are not relevant to what actually caused the crash. You are doing nothing to promote useful discourse. If anything, you are just trying to piss off Trump supporters. So maybe do everyone a favor and stop commenting.
I am just wondering why the FAA should be facing this crisis without any confirmed leader, just because Trump didn't like how much the prior Administrator focused on safety and the fact that he fined SpaceX for safety violations. That doesn't seem right to me.
thank you, Ben, for adding your "let's keep it non-political" while citing a list of things Trump did and then said "they weren't relevant"
Don't you think you could have left it "at let's keep it non-political" regardless of what was cited?
it is also not time to speculate but it is appropriate to talk about factual things that are relevant to the operation of DCA, regardless of this accident.
As for the implications of...
thank you, Ben, for adding your "let's keep it non-political" while citing a list of things Trump did and then said "they weren't relevant"
Don't you think you could have left it "at let's keep it non-political" regardless of what was cited?
it is also not time to speculate but it is appropriate to talk about factual things that are relevant to the operation of DCA, regardless of this accident.
As for the implications of this, some of the commentators rehashed that closing DCA because of the congestion has been on the table for years - long before 9/11 when security and defense of DC airspace grew exponentially. Some suggested that it is time to reopen the conversations about closing DCA. I don't think that is the real problem.
There has to be a conversation about how VFR military traffic operates in such close proximity to civilian IFR traffic esp. at very low altitudes. There also have to be questions about doing training in such an incredibly high risk area as well as the technology that supports all of that activity, both from a military and civilian standpoint.
DCA is not the only place where these types of issues exist and these issues have transcended multiple administrations and political parties.
Washington needs to fix problems and this accident proves there is a whole lot that needs to be fixed with aviation.
May there be humility and wisdom in getting the answers quickly and coming up w/ the right solutions.
I wish you would take your advice of knowing when to shut up or not go further
Ben provides the guidance he wants users to follow.
Ben, I appreciate your sane take on this. Trump is terrible, and ATC has had issues for years, but it doesn’t sound like either of those caused the accident, which at this time is most likely pilot error, although I will await the NTSB investigation. They always do a remarkably thorough job and will no doubt put together some reasonable recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future. My guess is that will include some...
Ben, I appreciate your sane take on this. Trump is terrible, and ATC has had issues for years, but it doesn’t sound like either of those caused the accident, which at this time is most likely pilot error, although I will await the NTSB investigation. They always do a remarkably thorough job and will no doubt put together some reasonable recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future. My guess is that will include some kind of airspace reconfiguration around DCA, particularly for military traffic.
I'm proud that we're led by a leadership that gets onto these things. Trump is leading us from the frontline and giving it his all. Glad we had the change in leadership before this happened.
Is this a joke?
It's only a joke if you haven't taken the red pill.
Have you taken the red pill, because JPlat clearly has.
The political comments have no place here. This is an aviation accident pure and simple that the NTSB will likely determine was caused by human error and that would likely have not occurred if it were daytime.
Agreed. Time to set a curfew that closes DCA at dusk every day.
Not sure if closing it at dusk is an answer given how many other airports in the world operate 24 hours. But, the sheer volume of fixed and rotary wing aircraft operating in a seemingly small (relatively) airspace feels prone to accidents. I'm not a pilot so I don't know if that's true but I fly into DCA about 2x per month. I've been on this exact flight before and several others given my primary...
Not sure if closing it at dusk is an answer given how many other airports in the world operate 24 hours. But, the sheer volume of fixed and rotary wing aircraft operating in a seemingly small (relatively) airspace feels prone to accidents. I'm not a pilot so I don't know if that's true but I fly into DCA about 2x per month. I've been on this exact flight before and several others given my primary work in in DC. And you can easily see multiple airborne aircraft from your window given other flights to IAD/DCA, HMX1 (Marine transport of POTUS), and other military fixed and rotary wing aircraft flying for routine missions, practice missions, etc. Maybe time to restrict the airspace a bit more? Or at least during night ops? There's no panacea but fuck, this sucks.
Yes, practically close DCA and move most flights to Dulles or BWI
Sadly, this has already become politicized by the current US President.
TBF to Trump, the last time he responded to a tragedy with "Thoughts and prayers...." the public also attacked him. Might was well try Blame Game out the gate this time....
https://cms.zerohedge.com/s3/files/inline-images/2025-01-30_07-05-39.png?itok=hEybydYP
Interesting from a DCA controller
Interesting indeed!
Absolutely tragic. Let’s hope it isn’t instantly politicised like every other issue these days…
I believe that if Biden hadn't left the US in this state and ruined everything for Trump to fix, this would've been completely preventable. In fact, the plane would've landed with MORE people than when it departed. RFK Jr. told me so.
Like all Americans, and like Trump, we're lucky to have him now here to fix this mess.
And what about the country that Trump left Biden? This stupid blame game never leads anywhere.
Having suffered a bereavement myself today, I can only offer my most sincere condolences the families and friends of those who perished.
This is not the time for those who post herein, to cast blame upon anyone, or, to make wild uneducated assumptions.
Now is the time to reflect not speculate.
may you be comforted in your loss, Aero.
Thank you so much for your kind words Tim …. they do help.
+ 1 - I am so sorry for your loss. May they rest in peace and wishing you peace and happiness for the future.
I'm surprised they closed the airport for an entire day. What's the reason for that? The incident happened before the runway threshold, and there's also another runway available so surely it's not about debris or investigation? When a similar crash occured at VNO recently, the airport reopened within few hours.
It’s opening at 11 am
I find it appalling that people blame a President for this crash.
No one is blaming the president, just acknowledging his piss poor response.
It's even more appalling that people expect Trump to not act like Trump.
This is a guy who's first day as the most powerful person on the planet is to rename Gulf of Mexico.
What do you expect.
You had a 4 year preview. Not enough?
Ain't democracy so damn good.
What's appalling? No one is saying he did it on purpose but in the USA, the president is the commander in Chief of the Army... So yes, he is de facto responsible for a military aircraft crashing into a civilian aircraft. Same way the Boeing CEO carried responsibility in managing a company with poor safety procedures and had to quit... At this point, Trump should already resign.
Roberto.
on this we agree.
He said it should not have happened and noted that the CRJ was making a routine commercial approach.
Hard to understand how some find fault with those statements.
I find it appalling that the current US President is blaming diversity and DEI for this crash, and the victims haven't been been buried. That's a pretty sick thing in my mind.
One of Trump's first acts in office last week was to remove all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. He has not replaced them with anyone, so the committee is functionally dissolved. One of many ways we can expect this administration to make us less safe in the coming years.
C'mon, you're linking this accident on a week old dissolved committee?
You can equally blame Biden for the previous committee that was not able to prevent this.
The only thing this administration makes me less safe is the poop who will be running HHS.
They're not saying the crash happened *because* of the dissolvment, just that that action will make responding to and investigating the crash more difficult.
Not if you know what the ASAC is for…. It would have nothing to do with this
Trump also disbanded a lot of pandemic response structures early in his first term...
The impact of gutting the aviation security advisory committee may not be immediate but it will have consequences.
No, @Eskimo, I am obviously not blaming the dissolution of this committee for this collision. I am saying that the dissolution of the committee increases risk and decreases safety going forward. Please take a deep breath and read comments carefully before you reply to them.
No, @Ben L., I am obviously not blaming the existence of this committee for able to prevent future collision. I am saying that the the committee doesn't increases risk and decreases safety in the past. I would unlikely in the future with or without them. Please take a deep breath and read comments carefully before you reply to them.
The reality is there hasn't been a commercial airplane crash in the USA since 2009. As tragic and unfortunate as this was, it was statistically inevitable. Frankly, it's amazing that there aren't more crashes when you consider the shear number of flights every day in the USA and around the world. Compare that to car accidents.
Except there has been a crash since 2009. What happened in 2014 when a 777 crashed upon landing at SFO? ..except if people claim that Asian lives don't matter? Or if people forget? Or think that California is not the US?
Weren’t the fatalities at SFO on the ground, i.e., evacuated passengers run over by emergency response vehicles?
Put your pearls away, Derek. Nick was likely thinking of crashes by US carriers, the last of which was the Buffalo flight in 2009.
Agreed. There used to be multiple fatality crashes every year in the 1960s and there were far fewer people flying. It's remarkable the major domestic airlines went for 15 years without one. However, it's disappointing that it was a collision between aircraft and at Washington National Airport, which was the biggest risk for the past few years.
There was a commercial flight that overran the runway in Alaska in 2019 and quite a few people died
RIP
Sadly lots of misinformation floating around.
"For the first time since 2009, there has been a fatal commercial aircraft crash in the United States…"
People seems to ignore OZ 214 crash in 2014.
Or maybe these racists sources don't considered the 3 young Chinese that perish as fatalities.
Or Asian carrier as an airline.
Or SFO is part of USA.
Maybe it's a typical Boeing cover up that 777 never had fatalities.
The correct quote from the article you are trying to use is "For the first time since 2009, there has been a fatal commercial aircraft crash INVOLVING AN AIRLINE from the United States". Seems accurate to me. Obviously, the sentence in the "bottom line" about "first major crash in U.S. since 2009" is incorrect, but that seems like a pretty simple mistake. Calling racism here seems a little naive...
@Ben
If you were here before sneaky @Ben secretly updated the sentence without admitting to this error you would see the version that I quoted verbatim using copy & paste.
LOL for him forgetting to correct the bottom line part yet, which proves my point.
Calling racism is just sarcasm to all the snowflakes and race card users out there.
You would be naive to believe it's racism.
IMO, you’re grasping at straws. I think many people are intending to state “first fatal crash of a US-airline since 2009”. However, even that statement is incorrect if you factor in Southwest 1390. Sure it’s not a “crash”, but there was a fatality.
Thanks Trump!
I would actually thank Trump if he followed up on his comment.
"This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!"
Exactly. Now if Trump would only remove humans from ATC and flying commercial planes.
How many more tragedy and casualties from human errors do we need before we remove humans from the problem.
I’m not sure what people find so bad about Trumps response. It actually sounds like he wrote it himself as opposed to a sanitised, corporatised post written by a press secretary.
If any of the previous presidents had made any efforts to communicate directly with the people it might not sounded that very different.
Yeah no, all our previous Presidents were at least smart enough not to publicly speculate on the cause and start a blame game less than 24 hours after the incident. I don't care if Trump wrote it himself when all he's doing is blaming both the helo crew and ATC for the incident.
Thoughts and prayers to the 67 people involved. Absolutely divesting.
devastating. Sorry.
It is the first fatal aircraft crash by an American airline not in the US (Asiana 214)
Very sad, hope they make some recoveries.
And I think a lot people don't even remember it ever happened.
Why in hell its an helicopter doing a training drill so close to airport landing runway?
The plane was doing a circle to land approach to 33. There is an army base directly below that on short final. Just the nature of the area. It’s dangerous. Changes will come of this.
There's an Air Force Base across the River from DCA. There's also a Marine Corps station. No army base there.
Thanks for the semantics. There is an Army presence there, fyi.
Helicopters cross the Potomac at the airport there all day every day, they have to because of the flight paths for commercial planes along the Potomac, so this is the safe place for helicopters to cross. This is extremely common and routine.
1. Not sure there's any evidence that the helicopters "Have to" cross there due to the landing paths. DC airspace is quite large despite restrictions and the DCA landing paths and takeoffs are not. They largely follow the Potomac in either direction. A Helicopter has FAR more options for how to fly around the restrictive DC airspace, assuming they actually need to do so. Aside from Marine 1 and the DC police, I find it...
1. Not sure there's any evidence that the helicopters "Have to" cross there due to the landing paths. DC airspace is quite large despite restrictions and the DCA landing paths and takeoffs are not. They largely follow the Potomac in either direction. A Helicopter has FAR more options for how to fly around the restrictive DC airspace, assuming they actually need to do so. Aside from Marine 1 and the DC police, I find it hard to believe any other helicopter actually needs to operate in that limited airspace. Military helicopters, in particular, would and should not be required to follow the Potomac crossing landing pathways, especially training missions when it can take place in plenty of open airspace within 50 miles of DCA.
2. Seems rather obvious now that this is not a "safe place" for helicopters to cross and this crash was eventually inevitable
RIP all.
Could the American CEO not at least wear a tie and appropriate dress for the solemnity of the occasion?
He didn’t want to spend $1 more than he needed to.
Yeah.... main priority.....right now!!!!
I assume he was not at work at headquarters given the time of the accident. He probably was probably with his family, at the gym, etc when he got the emergency call to return back to AA headquarters.
Didn't wear a tie on purpose, just like some politicians during natural disaster press conferences
Is it possible that the blackhawk was being remote operated which would explain why they didnt see the plane and couldnt react in time? That there were people on the helicopter doesnt exclude that possibility because there would logically be ppl on the helicopter.. just they may not have been able to take control in time?
No there’s atc audio of the blackhawk pilots and it was confirmed people were onboard.
DCA has different frequency for fixed wing and rotor.
There is ATC audio for both just not on the same channel.
Such a tragedy for all those who lost loved ones.
The response from Trump is appalling. This is what happens when you have a President interested in himself, obsessed in cutting funding to critical agencies and being a self serving narcissist.
Good luck America.
It’s tragic. As for Trump - Exactly what you expect from an uneducated dotard and it’s not even been a month. Half the US population are ignorant buffoons and I really hope they suffer from electing this bunch of incompetents.
Pathetic response. No concern for those affected. Goes right into armchair piloting speculation. Reads like a Reddit or OMAAT comment. Dumb as hell
Biden wouldn't remember what to do so that his handlers would prepare detailed instructions for the puppet. Once, he gave a speech saying "...4 more years pause" instead of " ...4 more years". The teleprompter read "...4 more years :
Piss poor first comment by Trump - one would think as president he would show concern for those onboard, as opposed to speculating like he was a pilot or something. What benefit came from his comment? None.
@JRG
Trump started blame game instead of showing concern.
That was far from his first comment on this; his initial comment offered condolences. Having made that correction, I do agree that such speculation is unwise at this point. The NTSB has a lot of work to do and I've seen too many accidents where the cause(s) only become apparent well into the investigation.
Trump is a child, who thinks he knows better than anyone - he openly says this. He shows no genuine sympathy for the victims, some of whom work for him. Instead, he will tell us how flight paths work and how water flows from Canada (or Heaven). Shameful.
Four crew members, not four pilots. Rest in peace...
Wouldn't it be more correct in your article to say that the military helicopter crashed into the CRJ, as the helicopter was supposed to be maintaining visual separation from the CRJ?
Minor point, but your headline and article immediately suggest that the CRJ was at fault.
Agree 100%.
An accurate headline would be, "Army Helicopter Collides With American Eagle Jet"