Can the Black Hawk be caught on a change in runway? The American Airlines Plane Crash Report: What We Know About Air Traffic Control and Civil Aviation
Air traffic control asked the American Airlines flight if it could land at runway 33, a shorter one. The pilots said yes, apparently switching runways during their approach. Some people wonder if the Black Hawk could have been caught by the change in flight path.
From the little that’s known, human error likely played a role, raising questions about a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers and pilots. Authorities may also be looking at coordination between military and civilian aviation.
“Perhaps safety protocols, human factors were at play,” he says. “I don’t like to draw conclusions early on. The passenger number has bounced back quite a bit, but the workforce number is not up to date in every aspect of aviation.
Source: Washington, DC, Plane Crash: Everything We Know So Far
The Fall of the UH-60 Black Hawk into the River: A Test of the First Administration’s Air Safety Program and its Role in recruiting Air Professionals
The Army UH-60 Black Hawk carrying three soldiers, was less than a mile from landing at Reagan National Airport when it crashed into the tail of the Bombardier CRJ-700 jet. The flaming remains of both aircraft fell into the river.
Military flights sometimes operate on different radio frequencies than passenger flights, so the passenger jet’s crew may not have heard the tower radioing the Black Hawk. Or there may have been a jammed transmission: If more than one party on a channel are radioing at the same time, that can prevent others from hearing the whole conversation.
The helicopter might have taken off from a military base. In a video from the Kennedy Center, a smaller light, presumably the helicopter, can be seen above the brighter light of the plane, flying low to the ground. The two collide in a massive explosion, splitting into several burning fragments.
The passenger jet, which was operated by regional carrier PSA Airlines on behalf of American Airlines, had 64 people on board, and police boats have already recovered 27 bodies. In New York State in 2009, Colgan Air crash, the last fatal aircraft tragedy in the United States.
The first major US air crash in 16 years happened late Wednesday when a military helicopter and passenger plane plummeted into the river in Washington DC.
On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump appeared to place the blame for a midair collision that killed 67 people on the previous administration’s approach to hiring aviation professionals. In the next few weeks, experts and investigators involved with the crash, which also involved a military helicopter, say they will be poring over every part of the crash to determine what caused it.
“You need to give us time,” Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a press conference Thursday. The NTSB is an independent US federal watchdog agency that is leading the investigation into the crash. She said they have data and a lot of information. “We need to verify information.”
The first administration of Trump had a program to expand the talent pool for the FAA for people with disabilities, according to a White House briefing Thursday morning. There was no proof, he admitted, that the crash was linked to the FAA’s attempts to improve diversity in its workforce. But he made the connection, he said, “because I have common sense and unfortunately some people don’t.”
In a press briefing, NTSB board member J. Todd Inman said at least seven different working groups will focus on different elements of the flights, made up of federal investigators as well as representatives from the military, aircraft manufacturers, and organizations representing aviation professionals.
The crew and history of the accident will be looked into by an operations group. A group will analyze the crash scene and the body of the aircraft to figure out how the aircraft ended up in an accident. The engines involved will be seen by another. Others will examine onboard hydraulic, electrical, and pneumatic systems, as well as flight control instruments. Air traffic control will be the focus of a group that uses recordings and sensor data to understand how professionals at National Airport reacted to the incident. Another will examine the reactions of first responders, and another will examine the helicopter in particular. A “human performance” group will be embedded within several of those organizations, focusing on what role crew fatigue, workload, medication, equipment, and training might have played in the collision.
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members was about to land at a Midwestern airport when it clashed with a helicopter that was carrying three service members.
Video footage of the incident shows the aircraft flying at a low altitude before an explosion happened at the moment of impact. Aviation expert John Cox told NPR the airspace around Reagan National Airport is particularly challenging for pilots and air traffic controllers because of the amount of air traffic.
The Next-to-Minimal Plane and Helicopter Collision near DCA — “It’s Soooooooooo Close“
The probable cause of the accident won’t be determined until after we are on the scene, said J. Todd Inman, a member of the NSCB.
The agency said it had retrieved the black boxes from the plane. Black boxes record conversations and other sounds happening in the cockpit, as well as relevant data about the aircraft and flight. The things that happened in the moments prior to the wreck will be pieced together by theNTSB.
More than a dozen of the passengers were figure skaters, coaches or family members, according to the Skating Club of Boston, which sent several of its team members to Wichita for the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championship.
On the day after the crash, he claimed that night vision goggles might have played a role, but did not offer any proof.
A reporter asked how a conclusion about the relevance of DEI could be reached so early on in the investigation, to which the president said: “Because I have common sense, OK? Most people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this.”
“This is a thing that has happened before, and we don’t expect it to happen again, so we’re very happy about that,” he said.
The families of the victims of the plane and helicopter crash near DCA are being prayed for by former President Biden and his wife. We are immensely grateful to the brave first responders and emergency personnel on the scene.”
“We will have to help each other out, this is a time when we must join arms together,” said Sen. Roger Marshall. “We’ve been through floods, tornadoes and things before, but it’s really hard to lose over 60 Kansans at the same time.”