DCA - American Airlines passenger plane collides with Blackhawk over the Potomac River, all 67 on both dead, 29 Jan 2025

[Panniniclaus]

Just have to hope they can find every body. That will be the best case but still a long shot given the conditions.

I fail to see how this could possibly routine.. if it was routine we would have this happening daily... games of chicken in the air.

Something went badly, badly wrong and it truly is bizarre looking at that video.

 

[MassGuy]

Just have to hope they can find every body. That will be the best case but still a long shot given the conditions.

I fail to see how this could possibly routine.. if it was routine we would have this happening daily... games of chicken in the air.

Something went badly, badly wrong and it truly is bizarre looking at that video.

Army helicopters flying in the area is routine (the base is right there).

My guess is that the helicopter was in airspace it wasn’t supposed to be in.

This is the type of crash where I’d expect them to find everyone, as opposed to those deep ocean crashes.

 

[Izzylizzy]

12:30 am press conference

 

[Panniniclaus]

Army helicopters flying in the area is routine (the base is right there).

My guess is that the helicopter was in airspace it wasn’t supposed to be in.

That makes sense and then you wonder why.. Should never be anything remotely close to a close call. Should be protocoled to death.

 

[Izzylizzy]

9m ago / 11:56 PM EST

• Air traffic right-of-way at Reagan National Airport explained

Tom Costello

Air traffic right-of-way at Reagan National Airport explained
01:26
The plane that was coming in to land at Reagan Airport before it crashed was approaching a shorter runway than the airport’s notoriously busy main runway.

The regional jet was coming in to land at Runway 33, from the south, when it collided with a military helicopter and crashed.

The video that appears to show the midair collision would appear to show the helicopter coming up from behind as the plane was on approach. Questions will be raised about air traffic control and communication and whether the pilots saw each other and had proper awareness.

 

[MassGuy]

That makes sense and then you wonder why.. Should never be anything remotely close to a close call. Should be protocoled to death.

It seems like there have been a million close calls lately, so I’m not surprised something finally happened. But those close calls were between two planes, and not a helicopter, so that certainly surprises me.

I’m sure this is going to lead to massive changes.

 

[Chimera]

Wouldn't the control tower that would be communicating with the plane also be communicating with the chopper ?
Was there a breakdown in communications ?
Trying to think about how this (imo) avoidable accident happened.
Omo.

 

[airportwoman]

I guess it's just the nature of breaking news but it's quite inaccurate that the original news headline called this a "small plane". I pictured it as meaning a small private plane like a Cessna. A jet with 60+ people is entirely different.

"Small plane" was what Rachel Maddow said when she interrupted her program to announce this, and she did say that further details were unconfirmed.

 

[Herat]

From an unvalidated radar, it appears the helicopter was ascending from 200 ft elevation through 300 ft to 350ft at the time of the crash, with air speed about 113 knt

The plane was descending with air speeds approx 121 knt.

 

[wendy44]

NBC 4 interviewed a man who was driving, it banked a sharp right, he could have the entire under belly of the plane right before the crash.

I've flown into National many times, always lots of traffic. It's beautiful looking down at the White House and you can clearly see the "wagon wheel" street designed. Lots of passenger are always looking out the window.

Heart breaks for the families.
Moo

My husband flew in tonight, just a few hours before this--he was showing me the great pictures he got of Mount Vernon. The guy waiting for his wife just breaks my heart.

We live near Belvoir--there was a wind advisory earlier today but it had lifted.

 

[airportwoman]

The number of passengers of approx 60 on board the passenger plane seem little.
Would this be a usual number for a domestic flight on such a large aircraft?

What's the plane's capacity? 60 people on a routine weekday flight is not unreasonable.

 

[Warwick1991]

Just have to hope they can find every body. That will be the best case but still a long shot given the conditions.

I fail to see how this could possibly routine.. if it was routine we would have this happening daily... games of chicken in the air.

Something went badly, badly wrong and it truly is bizarre looking at that video.

The helicopter path gives the impression of being purposeful. The UH-60 cockpit has a lot of visibility amid the busy airport operations. Helicopter pilot suicide? JMO

 

[Warwick1991]

What's the plane's capacity? 60 people on a routine weekday flight is not unreasonable.

65 passengers plus crew

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1884799798550655281

 

[Puzzles8]

Link to CNN Live feed

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/plane-crash-dca-potomac-washington-dc-01-29-25/index.html?t=1738206614132

JMO

ETA - Press conference at 12:30 EST

 

[Herat]

Wouldn't the control tower that would be communicating with the plane also be communicating with the chopper ?
Was there a breakdown in communications ?
Trying to think about how this (imo) avoidable accident happened.
Omo.

Unlikely ATC would be able to communicate with the chopter. Depends on if the chopter was also monitoring Reagan ATC approach. I think that would be unusual for the military helicopter. Reports are that the helicopter was not using ASDB, which is what the ATC uses.

ATC will have transcripts of all communications.

 

[Panniniclaus]

The helicopter path gives the impression of being purposeful. The UH-60 cockpit has a lot of visibility amid the busy airport operations. Helicopter pilot suicide? JMO

Crossed my mind. I say that without knowing how easy it actually would be to collide with a descending plane - purposely. So it might just be the worst luck imaginable.

 

[sasha17]

It sounds like the air traffic controllers did have the ability to communicate with the helicopter.

"Moments before the crash, air traffic control audio recorded a controller asking the helicopter, "PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight," followed shortly by another pilot exclaiming, "Tower did you see that?""

Dramatic midair collision near DC captured on Kennedy Center camera

Video from EarthCam appeared to show two sets of aircraft lights converging before flames erupted over the Potomac River.

www.cbs8.com

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1884804664392093928

 

[Chimera]

It sounds like the air traffic controllers did have the ability to communicate with the helicopter.

"Moments before the crash, air traffic control audio recorded a controller asking the helicopter, "PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight," followed shortly by another pilot exclaiming, "Tower did you see that?""

Dramatic midair collision near DC captured on Kennedy Center camera

Video from EarthCam appeared to show two sets of aircraft lights converging before flames erupted over the Potomac River.

www.cbs8.com

Great find & link.

Answered my question, thanks.