29 January 2025 Washington: CRJ-700 pax jet mid-air collision with Blackhawk helicopter...

[Stratofreighter]

https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2 ... fault.aspx
/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/li ... rcna189942

...with updates at
https://www.twz.com/air/h-60-black-hawk ... omac-river

Chilling Air Traffic Control Audio From H-60 Collision With CRJ700 Over Potomac River

here was a mid-air collision between a commercial airliner and a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night over the Capital Region.

“A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair
with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter
while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time, the FAA said in a statement.

“PSA was operating as Flight 5342 for American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas.”

Webcam footage showed what appeared to be a mid-air explosion.

[John 312]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpPWD7GTuR8

A massive search operation is underway after a passenger aircraft carrying 64 people collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC, according to aviation and defense officials. About 300 first responders are searching the freezing Potomac River, where the aircraft crashed.

The source says the plane is in pieces in the water and the helicopter is in the water nearby. The airport will be closed until at least 11 a.m. ET Thursday.

American Airlines Flight 5342 with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the airline. Three soldiers were on board the helicopter, which was on a training flight

[Gerard]

ATC-radar playback:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFb-dw6I ... QyYQ%3D%3D

[Le Addeur noir]

ADS-B data would suggest the UH-60L involved was 00-26860 calling PAT25. Hex code AE313D.

[Stratofreighter]

...these are the airframes concerned:

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/474372

Type: Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk
Owner/operator: US Army
Registration: 00-26860

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/474365

Type: Bombardier CRJ-701ER (CL-600-2C10)
Owner/operator: American Eagle, opb PSA Airlines
Registration: N709PS
MSN: 10165

[Key]

Topics merged to the one posted earliest. Obviously both civ & mil albeit in civil airspace so seems appropriate like this.

Erik

[Glidepath]

a dirty take from what was broadcasted (CNN) earlier. A part of the immediate post crash comms between a Sender and a Receiver.

.....
Sender replies: 'Crash Helo CRJ'
........
Receiver asks: (Helo) 'what company?'
Sender replies'Pat',
Receiver asks 'Pat?'
Sender replies: 'Yeah',
Receiver asks, 'is that military?'
Sender replies: 'Yeah',
etc

### In the above comms, the Sender referred to the Callsign (being Pat 2-5'), he failed however to reply to the clear question about what company (operator).

.

[Key]

Yes there was some confusion right after the crash, not entirely surprising. I believe it was cleared up quite soon though.

As more info comes available, it appears Tower was aware that PAT25 did not manoeuver as expected as he re-enquired whether the helo crew had the CRJ in sight (plus the Conflict Alert went off). PAT25 confirmed but I think they were looking at the next inbound, AAL3130 all the time.

The ADSB track of PAT25 shows an outlier just before Hains Point, that could be a slight data error but plays no role anyway. But the track also shows a right turn immediately prior to the collision, which would be logical to stay clear of AAL3130 as much as possible. That this was a real turn is evident, unfortunately, and it was the most unlogical thing to do if they had been looking at the CRJ.

Tracks from ADSB Exchange:
https://imgur.com/a/AkIUC7m

The CRJ crew may never have seen the Black Hawk, being above it and in a left bank. I did not hear Tower inform the CRJ crew of the helo either, which I consider essential (and is as such mandatory under ICAO rules - I do not know what the FAA says about it).

Tower was very busy as usual, landing and departing aircraft on two crossing runways with high traffic volumes. VAS Aviation once again has a good clip on the most relevant part of radio traffic here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r90Xw3tQC0I

Erik

[Levente]

Exclusive videos obtained by CNN show previously unseen angles of the collision between an American Airlines flight and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River. The videos, both shot on cell phones, show video replays of surveillance cameras capturing the crash between the passenger flight and the military helicopter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTgUrfQsOnA

[Key]

Following the disaster, the FAA has decided to restrict helicopter movements extremely close to DCA airport to necessary missions: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing ... y-airspace .

The illustration seems to indicate that Route 1 may still be used for training flights and the likes but the text includes the part of it from Memorial Bridge to S. Capitol Street Bridge, thus rendering it restricted. The part of Route 4 where the collision happened is restricted for sure.

Erik