In the evening of January 29th, 2025 a commercial airliner operated by American Airlines crashed after hitting a US Army helicopter, a Sikorsky H-60. The airliner was Flight 5342 out of Wichita, Kansas, and the type of plane was a Bombardier CRJ-701, a twin-engine passenger jet that can seat up to 70 passengers. Apparently there were 60 passengers on board, plus crew. All apparently died in the crash.
The Blackhawk helicopter was operating from Division Army Field at Ft. Belvoir in Virginia. It is around 16 miles from Reagan airport. The helicopter was apparently on a “training flight” and had a crew of three. All died in the crash. The helicopter had been in the air for only 9 minutes.
The AA flight was redirected to Runway 33 from Runway 1. That is usually done to improve the sequencing of landings and takeoffs at the airport. The airliner was on final approach, and its altitude was about 400 feet. The airliner was not warned of any problem by air traffic control (ATC).
The helicopter, on the other hand, was advised on the presence of the airliner and instructed to look for it. The call sign of the helicopter was PAT25 and it was operating just south of the Woodrow Wilson bridge, exactly on the final approach for aircraft landing at Reagan. According to the recording to ATC communications (see below) PAT 25 saw the AA aircraft and requested “visual separation” that was approved by ATC. A few seconds later (at most) the airliner and helicopter collided and both fell into the Potomac river.
Around 300 or more first responders, civilian and military, attempted a rescue operation, which soon turned into a recovery operation as there were no survivors reported as of the morning of January 30. The airliner broken into three pieces which were seen in waste-high water in the river. The helicopter remains also was immediately sighted, although parts of both aircraft impacted nearby on land.
On board the aircraft were American and Russian figure skaters who were returning from a training program in Kansas. Around 14 of the 60 passengers on board were skaters, coaches or their family members. Tass reports that “Russia’s 1994 world champions in figure skating, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, along with Inna Volyanskaya, a bronze medalist at the 1980 USSR Championships, were listed among the passengers.”
There are some urgent questions about this tragedy that need answering. To begin with, why was a military helicopter operating so close to the landing approaches at Reagan airport, and in particular at altitudes where collisions are likely (between 1500 and 400 feet)?
Reagan Airport is a Class 1 TCA (Traffic Control Area) so all flights within the TCA must be equipped with transponders and are required to be under positive ATC Tower control. Both aircraft involved in the collision had operating transponders and were in communication with Tower ATC.
Typically helicopters and small aircraft would be directed to fly over the middle of the airport in order to keep takeoff and landing aircraft safe. This was not the case with PAT25. ATC made no effort to keep PAT25 away from runway approaches.
The second related question is why didn’t ATC issue orders to PAT25 to clear the area, for example instructing it to turn left or right and get out of the way? It is a hard question to answer since it appears ATC was paying very little attention until a few seconds before the crash, either because they were too busy or unconcerned.
President Trump gave a press conference raising concerns about the standards for Air Traffic Controllers and raised concerns about the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) hiring procedures that may have led to the current disaster.
Reagan airport is in a very sensitive location. It sits astride the city of Washington. On landing on Runway 33 on the right one would see the city clearly including most noticeably the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. On the left the aircraft would have a few moments earlier have passed the Masonic Temple in Alexandria, Virginia, and cleared the Woodrow Wilson bridge. Reportedly there are air defenses in the area to protect the White House and Capitol building.
Now an investigation will begin, but it is obvious enough that this tragedy was a procedural failure compounded by bad ATC decisions.
