Air traffic controllers warned a US Army helicopter it was flying dangerously close to an American Airlines passenger jet landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport before their catastrophic collision night, control tower audio from the disaster shows.
“Have you spotted the CRJ?” an air traffic controller at the Reagan tower was heard asking helicopter — referring to the doomed CRJ-700 passenger plane.
The helicopter, identified by the callsign PAT-25 —responded that it saw a passenger plane and that it would manuever out of the way.
About 20 seconds later, at 8:48 p.m., the helicopter smashed into the airliner over the Potomac River — causing a fiery explosion.
The American Airlines flight collided with a Black Hawk on Wednesday night. New York Post“Tower, did you see that?” a controller said seconds later, while in the background others gasped in audible horror.
Follow the NYP’s coverage of the deadly DC plane collision
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The CRJ was American Airlines Flight 5342 which was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members to the capitol from Wichita, Kansas, and was flying at 145 mph as it approached Runway 33 – but ended up tangled in pieces along with the chopper in the icy river.
Everybody onboard both aircraft – including the three personnel in the chopper – was killed, authorities confirmed Thursday.
So far, 28 bodies have been recovered from the river.
The airplane crashed into the Potomac River following the collision. Earth cam
Air traffic control audio revealed the American Airlines flight was cleared to land at Reagan National Airport ahead of the collision. EarthCamBelow is a rough reconstruction — based on flight records from FlightRadar24, FlightAware, and audio from LiveATC.net — of the moments leading up to the crash.
- 5:22 p.m. — American Airlines Flight 5342 — a fully booked CRJ 700 carrying 60 passengers — takes off from Wichita, Kan., bound for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. It was due to touch down in DC around 9 p.m.
- 8:39:40 p.m. — Army UH-60 helicopter – also known as a Black Hawk – takes off northwest of D.C. near Langley, Va., with three personnel onboard for a training exercise. The chopper, based out of Fort Belvoir, flew south down the Potomac River towards Reagan National.
- 8:40 p.m. — Flight 5342 begins approaching Reagan National’s Runway 33 from the south of Washington, DC, travelling around 145 mph.
- 8:48:38 p.m. — Reagan air traffic control tower radios the helicopter and asks, “PAT-25 Do you have the CRJ in sight?” before directing the chopper to “pass behind CRJ.”
- 8:48:39 p.m. — Within moments the helicopter pilot confirms that he sees a plane and requests “visual separation” — meaning he is going to maneuver the helicopter out of the way using his own visuals, instead of by following control tower direction.
- 8:48:56 p.m. — About 20 seconds later the two aircraft slam into each other over the Potomac and burst into flames as they were torn apart.
- Air traffic controllers can be heard gasping, “Oh my!” before the audio cuts out.
- 8:49:30 p.m. – An air traffic controller says “Tower, did you see that?” while in the background a commotion is audible.
- “Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three, crash, crash, crash,” a Metro Washington Airports Authority dispatcher announced over radio communications moments later.
- 8:51:30 p.m. – Air traffic controllers began diverting planes to nearby airports, including Dulles and Baltimore International Airports.
- 8:52:00 p.m. – “Everything closed” an air traffic controller appears to say. All flights at Reagan were closed quickly after the collision – with all traffic remaining halted until 11 p.m. Minutes later controllers were heard asking “Are you able to assist with the search and rescue?” and trying to track down search lights and other resources.
- 8:53 p.m. – DC police began receiving calls about “an aircraft crash above the Potomac River,” according to CNN.
- 8:59:50 p.m. – “We witnessed the whole thing” a pilot tells the Reagon tower after being ordered to re-direct. When a JetBlue flight was asked if they “witness the encounter,” the pilot responded “Affirmative.”
