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    Everything We Know about the Airliner and Black Hawk who Collided On Approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

    FlightDramaBy No Comments11 Mins Read

    Multiple fatalities have been reported after a horrific incident involving American Airlines flight 5342 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over Washington D.C., with first responders still at work around the wreckage in the Potomac River.

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed shortly before 3:00 UTC that a midair collision had taken place between a Bombardier CRJ700 regional airliner and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter. At the time of writing there appears to have been a significant loss of life, with no survivors reported so far while more than 300 first responders are still at work.

    The incident

    The incident took place as the CRJ700 was on final approach to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s runway 33 around 21:00 local time (2:00 UTC). Reports indicate that the CRJ700 aircraft, which was operated by PSA Airlines on behalf of American Eagle, the regional branch of American Airlines, came to rest in the Potomac River. The airport was closed almost immediately with all inbound flights diverted to other locations.

    As would be expected so close to the airport, and within Washington D.C., a large emergency response was quick to arrive, with the first unit on scene 10 minutes after the collision. More units were recalled into service as the severity of the incident became apparent. Boats and helicopters were deployed to search for survivors while the banks of the river filled with a sea of flashing red emergency lights. Rescue divers were deployed to search under the water’s surface.

    A webcam at the Kennedy Centre captured an explosion at the moment of the crash. The lights of both the airliner and the helicopter are readily apparent in the video. Another view, from the dashboard camera of a nearby vehicle, shows the explosion and captures the audio.

    First responder reports indicate that National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators had arrived on scene by approximately 22:30 local time (3:30 UTC). The NTSB is the body which investigates all incidents relating to public transport in the United States, as well as incidents overseas involving U.S. built aircraft.

    The radio communications between the air traffic control and the two aircraft, which were recorded trough the popular website LiveATC.net, have been now posted online, showing how the two aircraft were being monitored by ATC and working to maintain visual separation, while after the crash ATC immediately rerouted all traffic to clear the airspace for the rescue effort.

    The aircraft involved

    Based on air traffic control communications the helicopter, callsign PAT25, was flying out of Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland. The PAT (Priority Air Transport) callsign is often used by the U.S. Army for VIP transport missions, though an Army official confirmed that no officials were on board at the time. At the same time, the official confirmed that three U.S. Army soldiers, a typical Black Hawk crew size, were on board.

    PAT25 was not transmitting ADS-B but did have Mode S enabled, allowing online flight tracking websites like Flightradar24 to track the aircraft through multilateration. It should be noted that multilateration tracking is often not 100% accurate, especially at lower altitudes.

    The American Airlines flight, which was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, was carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members. A press release from the U.S. Army specified that the helicopter involved was from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Fort Belvoir’s aircraft are a common and distinctive sight over Washington D.C. as they provide a VIP transport function using ‘gold top’ Black Hawks.

    The current situation

    There have been some unconfirmed reports of survivors being recovered from the scene, however the Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said during a press conference they “don’t know yet” about survivors. He also described the rescue operation as “highly complex,” with a possible duration of several days.

    Though local emergency services are well prepared for these conditions, the freezing winter temperatures will complicate rescue operations and seriously affect the time those who may have survived the crash can survive while submerged in the water of the Potomac River. Also, the wreckage of both aircraft is located in waters which are about 8 ft deep, challenging the rescuers’ access to them.

    As the time passes, however, the harsh reality of the fact is starting to hit, with NBC Washington, citing two sources close to the recovery efforts, reporting that “search-and-rescue crews have recovered the bodies of people who died in the crash,” and the BBC saying that 19 have been recovered so far.

    “I spoke with a law enforcement source just a few minutes ago,” said CNN’s Gabe Cohen. “He told me that there’s a really somber mood, even at the rescue scene. It feels — certainly not officially — but that we’re sort of moving from that ‘search-and-rescue operation’ into a recovery effort. They have pulled several bodies out. There are fatalities confirmed at the scene. And now we’re just waiting for answers.”

    U.S. President Donald Trump released the following statement through his Press Secretary at 22:51 local time (3:51 UTC): “I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”

    Though some may question why a helicopter would cross the approach path of an airport’s runway, it should be noted that there are heavily used helicopter routes around this area. Aircraft that use these routes include the helicopters of HMX-1, used to support the President and Vice President. These VIP helicopters, in fact, have a forward base at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, directly across the river from the airport, where they are only a short flight from the White House.

    While exact figures for this incident are yet to be established, it is unfortunately clear that a 16-year period without a fatal commercial airliner crash in the United States has come to an end.

    This is a developing story, we will update the article as more details emerge.

    Update 13:55 UTC

    During a press conference which was called at 07:30 local time, officials confirmed that they are switching to a recovery operation as they don’t expect to find survivors. So far, 28 bodies have been found and more equipment is being prepared to continue the operations.

    “We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident, and we have recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter” said Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly.

    Both the CRJ-700 and the UH-60 were flying a “standard flight pattern” before the collision, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said during the press conference.

    “This was a clear night last night; the helicopter was in the standard pattern. If you live in the DC area, you will see helicopters up and down the river,” said Duffy. “This was a standard fight pattern last night as well. The American Airline flight coming in to land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA, so this was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA.”

    The Secretary also provided details about the wreckage, whose recovery is underway.

    “The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted,” said Duffy. “It’s been located in three different sections. It’s in about waist-deep water, so that recovery is going to go on today.”

    During the press conference it emerged that there were no breakdowns in the radio communications and the Black Hawk was aware of the airliner in the area. Duffy also mentioned that the UH-60 being on a training mission does not mean that there were inexperienced pilots in the cockpit.

    “We call these missions that are flown in the DC area as our pilots are getting hours and experience training missions,” said Duffy, “so don’t read into that how many hours the pilots on the military aircraft had.”

    Similarly, Robert Isom, PSA’s CEO, said the two pilots aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 were not newcomers to complex commercial flight. “These are experienced pilots,” said  Isom. “I know that the captain had … almost six years with PSA (Airlines), and the first officer almost two years.”

    While the investigation is already in progress, theories about the causes of the crash or if it could be avoided are emerging. Officials said that this is “not a time to speculate, but a time to investigate” and they will release details as the investigation moves forward.

    “We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but … what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” said Secretary Duffy, echoing President Donald Trump’s post on social media saying that the collision “should have been prevented.” Duffy further added that “Obviously something happened,” mentioning that we will learn more as the investigation progresses.

    Meanwhile, this night’s midair collision over the Potomac River is now being considered aas the deadliest aviation disaster in the United Stantes since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines Flight 587 flight crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board.

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