Horrifying footage captured the moment American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, exploding in a fiery impact as it approached Ronald Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night.
A bright landing light was seen in the distance as a smaller light flew toward the airport before the two aircraft collided.
As the plane made its approach to Runway 33, an orange fireball lit up the horizon when the military chopper collided with the regional jet.
A camera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, captured the moment an American Airlines flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29, 2025, in an image provided by Earthcam.com. EarthCamLight from the explosion ripped through the dark night sky before pieces of burning debris from the aircraft fell into the Potomac River below.
The midair crash was caught on video around 9 p.m. from an EarthCam perched atop the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, pointing south toward the airport beyond the Lincoln Memorial.
Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operating for the airlines, was on final approach after its two-and-a-half-hour flight from Witchita, Kansas.
There were 60 passengers and four crew aboard the flight, American Airlines confirmed to The Post.
First responders found the plane split in two, lying in approximately 7 feet of water, according to NBC Washington reporter Mark Segraves
The American Airlines flight collided with a Black Hawk on Wednesday night.
As the plane made its approach to Runway 33, an orange fireball lit up the horizon when the military chopper collided with the regional jet, in an image provided by Earthcam.com. EarthCam
Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operating for the airlines, was on final approach after its two-and-a-half-hour flight from Wichita, Kansas. GC ImagesThe helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk, had flown out of Fort Belvoir, Va., only 15 miles southwest of Reagan National Airport, the US Army confirmed to CNN.
Three soldiers were aboard the chopper at the time of the crash.
Follow the NYP’s coverage of the deadly DC plane collision
- Rebecca Lobach ID’d as female soldier inside doomed Black Hawk during DC crash
- College student who died in DC plane crash was returning from grandfather’s funeral
- Understaffed, overworked crews plagued Reagan Airport before DC plane crash, lawmakers say
- Federal employees, including FAA, received email encouraging them to resign a day after DC plane crash: report
- Chilling new videos give clearest view yet of DC plane crash — and debris falling into river after fireball
- Husband whose wife texted him minutes before fatal DC collision details the heartbreaking moment he learned about doomed flight
- DC chopper, plane crash live updates: No survivors expected after AA flight collides with military helicopter in deadliest US crash since 2009
- LI figure skater mourns DC plane crash victims — including ‘baby skating sister’: ‘Like a really bad nightmare’
The military aircraft was upside down in the water, Seagraves added.
Officials have not disclosed the number of casualties.
Rescuers at the Potomac River have begun a mission to get to the crash site in the river, where the water temperature is around 35 degrees.
Reagan National Airport is the closest airport to the National Mall — only four miles south in Arlington, Va. — and is the busiest in the DC metropolitan area.
The helicopter, a UH-60 Black Hawk, had flown out of Fort Belvoir, Va., only 15 miles southwest of Reagan National Airport. REUTERSBecause of its proximities to the nation’s capital and the prohibited airspace in the area, aircraft landing from the north have to follow the river down before turning into the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flight 5342 was scheduled to land on Runway 33, which runs southeast to northwest.
