National Transportation Safety Board revealed a new detail about the horrific mid-air crash over Reagan National Airport on January 29. An American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training mission while on approach with the runaway. All 67 people were killed in the accident.
NTSB: Flight data recorder for American Eagle Flight 5342 has been successfully downloaded and is being analyzed by investigators
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) February 2, 2025
The tragedy has set off new discussions about air traffic control staffing, where conditions in the tower that night were described as “not normal,” with one controller doing the work of two. Yet, this isn’t a new criticism: Reagan National has had multiple close calls with the air congestion. The FAA grounded all low-altitude helicopters until further notice. The flight recorder from the American Airlines flight was recovered and is being analyzed, with the NTSB revealing that there appears to have been an attempt by the airplane to avoid the collision (via NY Post):
The pilot of the passenger plane that hit a military chopper and crashed in the Potomac River this week may have attempted a last second move to evade the collision, NTSB said at a news conference.
The CRJ was at 325 feet at the time of impact “plus or minus 25-feet” the NTSB revealed at the press conference, Saturday.
“At one point, very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” NTSB board member Todd Inman said of the nose of the plane.
However, that maneuver was at the “last second,” and was not in time to avoid being hit by the helicopter.
The altitude correction is based on information retrieved from the on-board flight data recorder recovered by rescue teams from the Potomac River on Friday.
“Again, this data is preliminary,” Inman stressed, though stated official word will come from the agency in the coming days.
[…]
NTSB said they are continuing to work out the transcripts of both the plane and helicopter communications, which occurred on different channels.
The agency clarified that the recordings that are circulating on social media are only half of the communications that were sent out by the DC control tower on Wednesday.
NTSB also confirmed that this training flight would require night vision goggles for the military personnel and that this could have contributed to the accident — though it was not clear.
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The word preliminary was lost with local media, which pressed the NTSB yesterday to give more details. It was as if this new tidbit was a verified fact, something the agency said was false. They’re still investigating.
NEW: President Trump is questioning the situation surrounding the Black Hawk’s collision with the American Airlines flight as new footage is released.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 31, 2025
In a post on Truth, Trump appeared to disclose that the pilot was flying above the 200 foot limit.
“The Blackhawk helicopter… pic.twitter.com/6HqEVLLeDU
For now, helicopter pilots likely focused on the wrong aircraft and didn’t see the incoming flight until it was too late.
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