2025 Potomac River mid-air collision

2025 Potomac River mid-air collision
American Airlines Flight 5342 · Priority Air Transport 25

EarthCam footage of the collision taken from the Kennedy Center, looking southeast
Accident
Date	January 29, 2025 (2025-01-29)
Summary	Mid-air collision, under investigation
Site	Potomac River, Washington, D.C., US 38°50′33″N 77°1′29″W / 38.84250°N 77.02472°W / 38.84250; -77.02472[a]
Total fatalities	67[2]
Total survivors	0[2]
First aircraft
N709PS, the Bombardier CRJ701ER involved in the collision
Type	Bombardier CRJ701ER
Operator	PSA Airlines dba American Eagle[b]
IATA flight No.	OH5342/AA5342
ICAO flight No.	JIA5342
Call sign	BLUE STREAK 5342
Registration	N709PS
Flight origin	Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, Wichita, Kansas, US[3][4]
Destination	Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Arlington, Virginia, US
Occupants	64
Passengers	60
Crew	4
Fatalities	64
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
00-26860, the Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk involved in the collision
Type	Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk
Operator	12th Aviation Battalion, United States Army
Call sign	PAT25
Registration	00-26860[5]
Flight origin	Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, US[6]
Destination	Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, US[7]: 19
Occupants	3
Crew	3
Fatalities	3
Survivors	0

On January 29, 2025, a Bombardier CRJ700 airliner operating as American Airlines Flight 5342 (operated by PSA Airlines as American Eagle)^[b] and a United States Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter operating as Priority Air Transport 25 collided mid-air over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.. The collision occurred at 8:47 p.m. at an altitude of about 300 feet (100 m) and about one-half mile (800 m) short of runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. All 67 people aboard both aircraft were killed in the crash, including 64 passengers and crew on the airliner and the three crew of the helicopter. It was the first major US commercial passenger flight crash in nearly 16 years since Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009, and the deadliest US air disaster since the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in 2001.^[8][9]

The jet was on final approach into Reagan National Airport after flying a scheduled route from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas, to D.C, while the helicopter crew was performing a required annual flying evaluation with night vision goggles and had left from Davison Army Airfield in Fairfax County, Virginia. Both aircraft communicated with air traffic control before they collided. The helicopter crew reported twice that they had visual contact with the airliner and would maintain separation from it, although it is unknown whether they were monitoring the correct aircraft. The crew of the Black Hawk did not hear parts of the tower communication due to a mic press.

On March 11, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report and urgent safety recommendations, emphasizing the dangerously narrow vertical separation between the runway approach path and the helicopter route. The NTSB chair also expressed anger that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) did not act on data showing the number of near-miss alerts over the last decade.

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