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After American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk over the Potomac, the internet rushed to blame Jo Ellis, a transgender Black Hawk pilot who had nothing to do with the crash. She was alive, 100 miles away, and now her defamation lawsuit against an influencer who amplified the false claim has survived an early attempt to throw it out.
American Airlines is being sued over the deadly January 2025 midair collision near Reagan National Airport, despite the U.S. government already admitting liability for the crash involving an Army helicopter and an American Eagle regional jet. Plaintiffs argue the airline shares responsibility, even though American complied fully with federal safety protocols—and the government’s failures in airspace design and air traffic control are clearly documented.
Following the earnings call each quarter, American Airlines executives gather for a ‘State of the Airline’ event with employees. Copies of this event regularly get sent to me, which are fascinating to listen to.
Not surprisingly since executives were reviewing the quarter, the 5342 disaster was background to much of the discussion. When they started talking about the team that’s been set up to support the families of victims, I broke down in tears. I just could not stop crying. Here’s why.
The NTSB has released a preliminary report on the January 29, 2025 tragedy where a U.S. Army UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter collided American Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita as it was landing at Washington National airport.
Following the disastrous collision of a military helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet landing from Wichita at Washington’s National airport on January 29, the FAA restricted the helicopter flight path around the airport. It appears that the Blackhawk was flying at an altitude above where it was supposed to be at the time the two aircraft collided. The FAA has also reduced throughput at the airport with runways 15-33 and 4-22 closed for the duration of the salvage operation, and all flights currently using the airport’s main Runway 1-19. The change is being reported as a reduction in allowable arrivals from 28 to 26 per hour. The number of allowable movements per hour is actually a little more complicated than that. 14 C.F.R. § 93.123(c) sets the maximum number of takeoffs and landings at…
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Wednesday night’s collision between an American Eagle regional jet landing at Washington’s National airport and a Black Hawk helicopter was absolutely devastating. A lot of information is coming out quickly about what happened.
Airlines have contingency plans for situations like this. American Airlines hasn’t experienced anything like flight 5342 in 23 years, but they update plans and train for it.
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 roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
