A regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday night resulting in confirmed fatalities of most involved and no known survivors so far.
- A PSA Airlines Bombardier CR7 operating as American Airlines flight 5342, registration N709PS, was flying from Wichita to Washington’s National airport with 60 passengers and 4 crew members on board.
- The army helicopter (“PAT25”) was a Sikorsky UH-60 (Black Hawk) affiliated with the 12th Aviation Battalion that departed from Fort Belvoir, Virginia with 3 soldiers on board.
Around 8:46 p.m. local time on Wednesday, both the CRJ-700 and the UH-60 Black Hawk collided in midair while the jet was on final approach to Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport. The aircraft were about two-thirds of a nautical mile from the runway threshold, descending through roughly 200 feet above ground level when the incident occurred.
Here’s a radar screen display of the collision from Aviation Herald:
The helicopter crew had the CRJ in sight and had been instructed to pass behind it. Less than 13 seconds later, gasps and exclamations can be heard on air traffic control.
Audio between PAT25 and DCA tower asking if they have the CRJ in sight. Affirms and requests visual separation. pic.twitter.com/6VAxx9zmv5
— NOVA Scanner Updates (@NOVAScanner) January 30, 2025
Witnesses saw sparks near the plane’s underside, which appeared to roll sharply—past a 90-degree bank—before plunging into the water. Both the plane and the helicopter ended up in the Potomac River.
The airport halted all operations, diverting 19 inbound flights to Washington Dulles airport and aircraft taxiing for departure were told to return to the apron and shut down engines. The airfield remains closed.
Here’s the American Eagle flight being cleared to land.
LISTEN to ATC audio of American 5342 as Reagan tower clears them to land, advises PAT25 helicopter to watch for traffic, and then alarm hits tower as they watch the collision unfold and both aircraft fall into the river. pic.twitter.com/KZC91vXg2r
— Tyler Anderson, MD (@DoctorTyMD) January 30, 2025
You can listen to an archive of broader air traffic control context here:
A massive search-and-rescue effort commenced, involving about 300 first responders working along a stretch of the Potomac River estimated to be around 8 feet deep with near-freezing temperatures. Survival times in water that cold range from 30 to 90 minutes. After several hours, no survivors had been locate.
Among the 64 people on the plane were several figure skaters and coaches traveling from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas and two Russian figure skaters.
The NTSB will remain the lead agency in investigating the cause of the collision. Recovery operations will continue for days as divers search the river for wreckage and any remains.
Here’s very disturbing video from the scene:
The Black Hawk helicopter involved was on a training mission. As former resident of D.C. for nearly 20 years, a majority after 9/11, what that means is that it was there for no particular reason other than that the military flies around a lot there. There are regularly a lot of helicopters at low altitude around DCA airport. Yet most discussion will center on how much commercial traffic should be allowed in and out of this airport.
The Black Hawk was on a training flight,
according to the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region:“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort…
— Gio Benitez (@GioBenitez) January 30, 2025
It’s way too early to place blame for this incident. There are television pundits blaming the Trump administration because just over a week into the new presidency there’s not yet a confirmed FAA Administrator. There’ll be a rush to blame diversity hiring in air traffic control, but every time we wind up talking about DEI and aviation, we get stupider. It’s almost impossible to have a rational conversation about a shortage of pilots and air traffic controllers; about barriers to entry into the profession; or about what qualifications are necessary for jobs in aviation. Here are actual facts.
This was genuinely horrible to see, even from a distance. It comes off as trite when Kansas Senator Jerry Moran calls it personal because it’s a flight from Wichita. Yet as a semi-regular American Airlines flyer, whose main destination is this airport and who lived at one point just 10 minute away – and as a daily aviation observer who marvels at the industry’s advances in safety but is regularly concerned with its lapses, it is almost surreal. I’ve written many words here, yet beyond these I remain without them.
Thank you, Gary. It’s a tough one. This could have been any of us. I feel for these folks and their families. Let’s allow the investigators determine what happened and hopefully we learn from this so it never happens again. This is why we need the very best at NTSB, FAA, DOT, and yes, even TSA, to do their part. Respect to the pilots, crews, and first responders who put their lives on the line every day for us. Be safe out there.
This is a tough one, as are all plane crashes. As someone who flies AA and into and out of DCA quite often, this is also frightening. My thoughts are with those who were injured, have died, their families, and of course the first responders and their coordinators, in what is a dangerous situation.
Happened on Pete Hegseth’s watch. Just sayin’
Congrats lavanderialarry,
You just broke the record for the stupidest post ever.
I wonder how many faa controllers (and ntsb investigators ) have been mulling which fork in the road to pick
Way too many military helicopters flight in that airspace
I wish I could share a screenshot here of AP News top page last night. Directly above the headline “Trump fires heads of TSA, Coast Guard, and guts key aviation safety advisory committee” was thte breaking news alert saying “A passenger jet collided with a helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, officials say.”
It’s almost as if voting into power these utterly incapable leaders has direct consequences!
The reality is there hasn’t been a commercial airplane crash in the USA since 2009. As tragic and unfortunate as this was, it was statistically inevitable. Frankly, it’s amazing that there aren’t more crashes when you consider the shear number of flights every day in the USA and around the world. Compare that to car accidents.
According to Flight Aware, the CRJ was traveling 140mph at the time of collision. It’s not like it was wizzing right by the helicopter. This was a slow motion crash in aviation terms.
Thank you, Gary.
I flew out of DCA on an AA Eagle flight an hour before this happened, everything at the time seemed so normal. Devastated to hear about it when we landed.
Safe travels everyone.
You people need to stop politicizing everything. This tragedy has nothing to do with Trump, the head of the FAA, Hegseth or any other politician. People lost their lives last night. Have a little respect.
lavanderialarry says:
January 30, 2025 at 4:32 am
Happened on Pete Hegseth’s watch. Just sayin’
You are an idiot! Just sayin.
That you would have military traffic in that close seems bizarre. At that point the plane would be almost going back over land where the bike trail is and then onto the runway. But yeah the pundits are already out as to the exact “cause.”
Has been too many incident involving lack of competency from ATCandFAA esp with DEI.
Also incident within military end poor selection of people.
Too heavy emphasis of military and glorification if the quality are bad. Their live are not as much above civilian live. Sad for those the possible hero of skater of our nation than the military who commit criminal killing these 60 people
There’s people blaming DEI and others blaming Trump and Hegseth… this comment section is really just absurd. (It’s also very insensitive to the victims and their families.)
Gary, if you’re reading this, maybe it’s best to lock the comments on this post.
The chopper cut through the path of the plane at the wrong altitude (procedure allows this but at a higher altitude above the traffic). I’m assuming the trainer did not catch the student error.
Based on the number of near misses that have occurred on the ground or in the air the past 2-3 years, we probably shouldn’t be surprised something this tragic has happened. Because of where this accident took place, there appears to be no loss of life on the ground, which could have compounded the problem.
I was on short final to runway 01 at DCA when Palm 90 crashed into the Potomac in 1982. This brings back sad memories. The primary cause was crew error. They were white guys with many hours between them. The FO was an ex Air Force fighter pilot. Nothing to do with DEI. Now people are trying to blame this on DEI already?
That’s unbelievable…near as i can see the PSA crew was an innocent victim of a Blackhawk flying where he shouldn’t have and the GPWS that would have prevented this accident was not activated because PSA was on short final.
Odd coincidence. This has some striking similarities to the last midair similar to this….a PSA flight landing in SAN struck by a light plane while on final approach
If there is any takeaway from this at this point is is how rare a tragedy of this magnitude is now and that aviation is profoundly safer now than when Palm 90 crashed.
@Adam @Mas @Coffee Please @ryan @lavanderialarry
C’mon fellas. They haven’t even pulled the bodies out of the frigid Potomac yet.
Those of you who come around here often already know that I’m usually ‘ready to go’ with the political banter, but did that not cause this–neither this administration, nor DEI.
Unless the investigation proves otherwise, it’s just simply a tragic accident.
Sure, we can speculate, as others already are–it probably was a rooky mistake, seeing as this was a ‘training’ flight for the military helicopter. Not malicious, not purposeful, not criminal–just sad.
And if someone does end up being objectively ‘at-fault,’ then there should be accountability, and victim’s families should be compensated. Hopefully some lessons learned here, too.
“You people need to stop politicizing everything. This tragedy has nothing to do with Trump, the head of the FAA, Hegseth or any other politician. People lost their lives last night. Have a little respect.”
When you have a new president blocking hiring FAA controller, and then threatening to fire existing ones — yeah, it’s an issue.
Would Reagan have been torched if there had been a major air crash aa week after he fired the air traffic controllers? yes.
I should have been clearer on my statement that the crew error i was talking about was Palm 90’s crash. Early days of course but i think it’s a safe bet that the PSA crew did nothing wrong at all. They were on short final where they should have been below an altitude that the GPWS is active. They mystery is why was a Blackhawk flying in that airspace.
Well said 1990….
Have the libtards blamed trump yet?
As a retired airline employee, as well as the parent of a current airline Pilot, this hit very close to home. However, as I have stated before and will continue to say, it is imperative that those hired to be in the ATC Tower, as well as the those in the Cockpit, be the best of the best and fully trained. Far too many “close calls” over the past few years needs to be addressed. I do not know if this is the result of DEI, Pilot error or inexperience, or technology, but I do know that it must be fully investigated. Instead of aiding overseas wars, we need to be sure we are safe in our own Country by fixing what is obviously wrong here.
@johnW
Don’t enable him, he’s the biggest political troll on this site.
And @ryan is a subhuman
@AndyS
Takes one to know one. See you around, sir. Safe travels.
While all the comments and observations about ATC Staffing problems and congested airspace are valid would this have happened if a military helicopter wasn’t in the area? No commercial planes have collided (mid air). Where are the questions about training flights and other activity from the military who aren’t subject to the normal rules of ATC?
It’s the bureacrats that have kept this airport open for their own benefit. Plain and simple.
@Ren Nope. That’s not it. Not at all. Stop it.
AndyS…He’s said things on here that I disagree with for sure. That said, his post was spot on and personally I appreciate people with different perspectives finding common ground. Far right or far left can be pretty silly. Reality is the perspective in the middle that can accept more than one point of view
Excellent perspective.
Sad to say, I was in Crystal City when Air Florida smashed into the 14th Street Bridge (and Metro train crashed and killed people that same week) and I also happened to be in Crystal City when aircraft crashed into the Pentagon.
Just a few weeks ago, I was on a delayed flight flying downriver into DCA, and I was taking video of downtown DC at 2 a.m. (it was a delayed flight) when suddenly my aircraft shot upwards into space, and did a fly around, and the captain announced that DCA control tower told him to get out of the way of another aircraft. I thought to myself, “air traffic congestion at 2:00 a.m? Weird.”
Last night I was 5 miles from this crash site, and about to go to sleep when I saw the news.
Just too much air tragedy, too close for comfort.
Condolences to families and friends of the victims.
Hey @1990, I’m very much agreed with you that it is wholly inappropriate and disrespectful to politicize this, but you named the wrong guys !!! It was @Mas, @Ryan and @lavenderialarry who were politicizing it, and @Adam and @Coffee Please were calling them out on it, just like you and I are.
@TexasTJ @johnW
Yup. On the same page. Hoping we can reach a truce on this topic at least. It could have been any of us onboard. We all travel a lot and care deeply about the industry, even if we sometimes disagree on methods and preferences.
and 1990 you nailed it again with your answer to @Ren
To reiterate, pretty sad to see the political perspectives already being floated by people with little aviation experience. Accidents have always happened in aviation and always will. Thankfully they are very very rare nowadays. I was an Airline Pilot from 1977 to 2019, In my day accidents happened with a much greater frequency despite the fact that there where far fewer flights
I love the morons that immediately blame a politician or cabinet member. I agree…stupid, moron…all correct. This accident at KDCA, looking at the flight paths, was totally avoidable. I’m guessing…GUESSING that the RJ was on a night visual (sorta risky due to depth perception) but with an ILS backup (which will mitigate the depth perception) issue. All of this is normal operations. The RJ was on “short final” at about 400′ above ground. Technically, the RJ has the right of way but as my Dad used to say, “Your right of way doesn’t extend through my fender”. But, at 400′, the RJ pilots are concentrating on the RUNWAY. They would NOT be expecting some plane to encroach in their protected airspace. The Blackhawk was in Washington National Airport protected airspace “with permission”. One news source said that both aircraft were flying VFR. Well, yeah…the weather is VFR but the RJ, I’m sure, was still on an IFR flight plan which only separates it from other IFR aircraft. Doubtful that he would cancel IFR. The Blackhawk would be crossing the approach path of the runway and the RJ on FINAL APPROACH. Little did the RJ pilots realize that is WAS their “final approach”. I’m betting that the Blackhawk was at fault. It really doesn’t matter who was at fault…it was avoidable.
@johnW
That’s fair. Commercial air travel has certainly come a long way–we often take it for granted. Many rules today were ‘written in blood,’ as they say. We cannot become complacent.
There are myriad things to ‘get political’ over these days, both serious and in-jest–I really do not see this incident as one of those. The investigation will take some time and should provide us answers as to ‘why’ this happened.
Personally, I do not agree with the current Russian regime. Coincidentally, some of the victims of this incident happened to be Russian champion figure skaters–They did not deserve to die. As Sting sang, ‘the Russians love their children, too.’ So, I grieve for them, too.
In reading this blog over the years, it seems to me that the author has tended to imply that seat back TVs, legroom, food, etc. are far more important than safety. Maybe this crash will serve to alter that view. The main job of an airline or any other transportation company is to get people and goods from one point to another safely. That should always be the prime focus, IMHO.
@DesertGhost
I’ll defend Gary–He’s admitted that he started VFTW on a ‘lark,’ and clearly it has become a bit more than that these days. I wish it was always ‘fun and games’ on here. It makes me appreciate the typical travel ‘gossip’ that Gary posts.
Safety is still first. On a typical day, everything goes well, so we can then focus on everything else, like better service, rewards programs, sign-up bonuses, etc. There is nothing wrong with sharing our travel experiences–whether that feedback is helpful, harsh, or undeserved is another story.
win,
commercial part 121 operations in the US are ALWAYS under IFR. It is their responsibility to follow ATC directions.
The combination of VFR and IFR operations in the same very tight airspace needs to end. post haste. The military needs to change the way it operates and civilians should not be asked to accommodate the military but instead it should be the other way around.
@DesertGhost “In reading this blog over the years, it seems to me that the author has tended to imply that seat back TVs, legroom, food, etc. are far more important than safety.”
Please point me to anything that suggests this, otherwise apologize.
Safety is first
Reliability is an expectation.
But commercial airlines in the U.S. are safe. And reliability is a baseline expectation, where much is outside the control of the carrier (like weather and ATC). So an airline’s product and experience, how they treat customers matter. And I write primarily from the perspective of a customer who broadly understands the business elements of product and loyalty programs.
Never, ever have I said that safety does not matter compared to seat back TVs. That’s just an implausible and unfair characterization. And I really do think you owe an apology for it.