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Air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. warned a helicopter about a passenger jet. But, just moments later, they crashed into each other.
“PAT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?” asked a controller to the helicopter. “PAT-25, pass behind the CRJ.”
Then things got worse. Another voice on the radio shouted, “Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three.” That’s when everything changed.
The chaos continued as another controller explained, “I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into 3-3. We’re going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future.”
And then came the grim news: “Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” another controller reported. A fireball appeared and vanished just as quickly.
Reports from the New York Times revealed that officials believe no one survived this tragic midair collision. The rescue mission has turned into a recovery operation.
Both aircraft plunged into the Potomac River, with at least 27 bodies recovered so far.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned that the Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a routine night evaluation flight. The crew was experienced and using night-vision goggles.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin remarked to CNN that initially everything seemed standard for American Airlines Flight 5342’s landing approach. However, it ended tragically with both aircraft in the river and 67 fatalities.
“The initial briefs were that everything was routine going into the approach for landing for American Airlines Flight 5342 and that, in fact, contact had been made with, of course, the military helicopter as well,” CNN reports Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said. “But of course, it clearly wasn’t routine, and we had two aircraft in the river with 67 fatalities.”
