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

[tarabull]

There’s audio at link - Air traffic control reporting incident to Fire command.

DC plane crash live updates: 2 NYers ID’d as victims, with 36 bodies yet to be recovered from the site, officials say

Follow The Post’s live updates on the deadly plane crash near DC’s Reagan National Airport that left no survivors after an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet Wednesd…

nypost.com

“It was probably out in the middle river. I just saw a fireball and then it was gone,” the air traffic controller can be heard on audio shared on X.

“I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. BUt it was CRJ and a helicopter that hit, I would say, maybe a half mile off the approach into 33,” the controller says in a call to Fire Command.

:bump:

 

[Seattle1]

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

We don't know. Could be spatial disorientation. It black dark, pilot is over the water. Let's reserve judgement until more facts available.

ETA: From ATC, I wonder if pilot was looking at the aircraft that departed Reagan National and not the aircraft that was making it's approach to land. I described these in the impact video.

 

[MassGuy]

CNN now: Officials preparing for this to be the deadliest disaster in Washington in decades. They're getting images back from the search crews and it's very grim.

 

[airportwoman]

65 passengers plus crew

I looked that up in the meantime. I assumed, based on what other people were saying, that this was a big airline that could hold a couple hundred people.

 

[tarabull]

Say what? Flying dark?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1884809132445704377

:bump:

 

[Chimera]

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

Thanks for linking this, it helps to understand a little more.
The comments are interesting , esp. the one by a JKM.
Imo.

 

[Panniniclaus]

:bump:

This doesn't seem like it is following procedure.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Donald J. Trum​

What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

·10m

The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!

 

[wendy44]

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.

Yes, we see them all the time. I was surprised to see it came from Belvoir, though--I was thinking it was probably Andrews.

 

[Chimera]

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

Tbh my mind didn't go there yet.

But it seems like an odd and a freak accident, for sure.
On a clear night --and airports are usually lit up like Christmas and esp. the runways.

My first thought was what was the chopper doing anywhere near the flight paths of ascending/descending planes; i.e., reroute the pathways.
If that makes sense ?
Omo.

 

[Deleted member 39678]

Was it VFR or IFR flight conditions at the time of this accident?

 

[Izzylizzy]

Live presser soon.

 

[wendy44]

Tbh my mind didn't go there yet.

But it seems like an odd and a freak accident, for sure.
On a clear night --and airports are usually lit up like Christmas and esp. the runways.

My first thought was what was the chopper doing anywhere near the flight paths of ascending/descending planes; i.e., reroute the pathways.
If that makes sense ?
Omo.

They do fly along the river and you can sometimes see them on take off or landing, but I'm not sure if they routinely fly in that flight path.

 

[Chimera]

We don't know. Could be spatial disorientation. It black dark, pilot is over the water. Let's reserve judgement until more facts available.

ETA: From ATC, I wonder if pilot was looking at the aircraft that departed Reagan National and not the aircraft that was making it's approach to land. I described these in the impact video.

Bbm.
Those are the plane lights in the first video of my earliest post here -- the plane that was above the crashed aircraft, the lights that turned and went out of frame ?
So that might have been the plane that the helicopter said they had a visual, and didn't see the one that was landing ?
Omo.

 

[whitelilac]

I'm just sick over this. Those poor people, ready to land. And the families who were to greet them.
It happens in an instant. devastating.
This is the worst January ever. The fires here, absolutely awful. Still reeling from that.
I really fear what's next. No one is immune from anything.
I feel so bad about all this loss of life, and the families left behind.

 

[Izzylizzy]

Live presser soon.

Has begun

 

[Seattle1]

BREAKING -- NEWS CONFERENCE LIVE

American Airlines flight collides with Army helicopter near Reagan National, more than 30 bodies recovered

A small commercial airliner and a military helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport Wednesday evening, D.C. Fire and EMS confirmed.

www.nbcwashington.com

 

[Seattle1]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1884842301874385162

 

[Chimera]

Was it VFR or IFR flight conditions at the time of this accident?

From this link:
VFR vs IFR Flight Rules: Key Distinctions Explained

Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) are two sets of rules that govern how pilots navigate in the sky. VFR is used in good weather conditions, while IFR is used in poor visibility conditions.

I'm assuming on a clear night the conditions were VFR ?
The first video was grainy but clear enough to see the path of the heli., and that was after dark.
Imo.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

From the press conference and Senator Moran, KS, it sounds like there are no survivors. Is that what anyone else interpreted? Very, very tragic. I can't imagine.

JMO.