AA5342 Collides with Helicopter

[jase05]

Doesn’t lsound good.
AA5342 CRJ-700 and Helicopter midair collision on approach to runway 33 at DCA, both aircraft in the Potomac, SAR in progress

https://twitter.com/x/status/1884791040890089602

 

[drron]

Looks like the helicopter went straight int the plane. what was it doing there?

 

[jb747]

Looks like the helicopter went straight int the plane. what was it doing there?

It doesn't show up on FR24. The CRJ shows a normal return at 900', and the next one is at 25', so the point of impact is basically on the eastern edge of the Potomac. It's in a direct line south of the Mall. Police have denied that it was theirs.

 

[jase05]

A bit more info from ABC

Regional jet collides with helicopter near Washington's Reagan Airport, FAA says

The US Federal Aviation Administration says a PSA Airlines regional jet has collided midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Reagan Washington National Airport.

www.abc.net.au

 

[sqrt()]

Oh no

 

[oz_mark]

From the FAA: https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/statements/accident_incidents

January 29, 2025​

Commercial Aviation / Washington, D.C.

A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time. PSA was operating as Flight 5342 for American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation.

 

[Berlin]

Black Hawk military helicopter apparently. Video does not look good.

https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/plane-crash-dca-potomac-washington-dc-01-29-25/index.html

 

[DejaBrew]

Wow that's pretty frightening. Fingers crossed for minimal casualties, but that really doesn't look good.

 

[jb747]

It seems that the callsign was PAT-25, which apparently stands for "Priority Air Transport". Claims that it was a VH-60 which is the VIP variant also used as Marine One. There is an audio from ATC in which it is asked if it has the CRJ in sight, and when it replies in the affirmative, is told to maintain visual separation. All to be confirmed....

A trap with ever accepting visual separation at night, is that it's quite possible to misidentify the aircraft you're supposed to be separating from, which has obvious ramifications.

 

[DejaBrew]

CNN reporting the helicopter had a crew of three and was not carrying any VIPs, according to a US defense official.

 

[p--and--t]

How does the airline not know exactly how many people on board? Maybe just vague reporting?

 

[DejaBrew]

How does the airline not know exactly how many people on board? Maybe just vague reporting?

American Airlines confirmed to media there were 60 passengers and four crew aboard.

 

[justinbrett]

How does the airline not know exactly how many people on board? Maybe just vague reporting?

The airline absolutely knows.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Post impact audio

BNO News (@bnonews) on Threads

Audio from air traffic control: "I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone"

www.threads.net

 

[DejaBrew]

Official update on the incident from AA -:

https://news.aa.com/news/news-details/2025/Information-regarding-American-Eagle-Flight-5342/

 

[justinbrett]

It seems that the callsign was PAT-25, which apparently stands for "Priority Air Transport". Claims that it was a VH-60 which is the VIP variant also used as Marine One. There is an audio from ATC in which it is asked if it has the CRJ in sight, and when it replies in the affirmative, is told to maintain visual separation. All to be confirmed....

A trap with ever accepting visual separation at night, is that it's quite possible to misidentify the aircraft you're supposed to be separating from, which has obvious ramifications.

It appears the CRJ descended into the Blackhawk, which suggests the Blackhawk never had the aircraft in sight. Most likely confused with the departing 737 (AA1630).

IFR and VFR respectively which unless there’s a local rule to the contrary, ATC have to separate and thus most likely had a separation breakdown before the visual separation was assigned.

Swiss cheese strikes again.

 

[jb747]

Sounding like a normal army UH-60 now.

It does show up on this, though it's much harder to use than FR24.

globe.adsbexchange.com/

 

[DejaBrew]

Sounding like a normal army UH-60 now.

Via CNN -:

The US Army Black Hawk that collided with a passenger plane on Wednesday was on a training flight at the time of the incident, Joint Task Force-National Capital Region media chief Heather Chairez tells CNN.

The 12th Aviation Battalion, based out of Fort Belvoir, provides helicopter transportation and “technical rescue support” to the National Capital Region.

 

[moa999]

Some reports of a handful of survivors.
Edit - looks like that may be confusion with the outcome of a 1982 crash (also in January) where there were some survivors.

The Potomac is reportedly fairly shallow (under 10ft) in that area but currently 35F (1°C) so limited time to rescue people

 

[jb747]

How does the airline not know exactly how many people on board? Maybe just vague reporting?

60 plus 4.

It appears the CRJ descended into the Blackhawk, which suggests the Blackhawk never had the aircraft in sight. Most likely confused with the departing 737 (AA1630).

There was another aircraft on long finals for the other runway, which would have also been on a similar bearing from the helo.

IFR and VFR respectively which unless there’s a local rule to the contrary, ATC have to separate and thus most likely had a separation breakdown before the visual separation was assigned.

This is the USA. There are some strange VFR and IFR mixes there.