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…
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.
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