DC authorities suspect no survivors of deadly midair collision; haunting air traffic control audio released
A PSA Airlines plane operating an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening. After generating a large fireball over the Potomac River, the remains of both aircraft dropped into the frigid waters. As authorities do not expect to find any survivors amid the ice and debris, rescue efforts have given way to recovery efforts. The Federal Aviation Administration, which has launched a joint investigation into the deadly incident with the National Transportation Safety Board, confirmed that American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, collided midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to runway 33 at the airport just before 8:50 p.m. local time. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board Flight 5342. Three service members were aboard the helicopter, which the Pentagon indicated was out of Ford Belvoir, Virginia. 'Tower, did you see that?' Flight surveillance data indicated that the helicopter, apparently on a training flight, was heading south along the District side of the river prior to the collision, reported the Washington Post. The plane was several hundred feet above the water when it came into contact with the Army helicopter. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy indicated during a press conference Thursday morning that the helicopter and the plane were both in a "standard flight pattern" and that based on what he has seen so far, the collision was "absolutely" preventable. Air traffic control audio has emerged capturing the final communications between the tower and the doomed helicopter as well as observers' reactions in the immediate aftermath. In one clip released on LiveATC.net, a repository of of air traffic audio recordings, an air traffic controller can be heard saying around the 17:30-minute mark, "PAT25, do you have CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ." The aviator in another aircraft can be heard chiming in moments later, "Tower, did you see that?" An air traffic controller proceeded to direct planes to circumnavigate runway 33. 'This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.' At the time of the collision, one air traffic controller can reportedly be heard in a recording saying, "Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three." In another clip, an air traffic controller states, "Both the helicopter and the plane crashed into the river. It's east of the approach end of runway 33," later adding, "All runways are closed. Nobody's landing. No one is moving at all." "I just saw a fireball, and then it was just gone," continued the air traffic controller. "I haven't seen anything since they hit the river, but it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit. I would say maybe a half-mile off the approach end of 33." "We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said at the Thursday press conference. "We don't believe there are any survivors from this accident." Donnelly noted that the bodies of 27 people from the plane and one person from the helicopter have been recovered so far. U.S. Figure Skating told the Post that several members of its skating community were aboard the commercial airliner when it crashed. The likely victims, including athletes, coaches, and family members, were on their way home from the National Development Camp held in Wichita in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. "We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," said the statement. President Donald Trump responded to the crash just after midnight, suggesting that something about the incident did not compute. "The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn[?]" the president wrote on Truth Social. "Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane[?] This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!" Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
A PSA Airlines plane operating an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening. After generating a large fireball over the Potomac River, the remains of both aircraft dropped into the frigid waters.
As authorities do not expect to find any survivors amid the ice and debris, rescue efforts have given way to recovery efforts.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which has launched a joint investigation into the deadly incident with the National Transportation Safety Board, confirmed that American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, collided midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to runway 33 at the airport just before 8:50 p.m. local time.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board Flight 5342. Three service members were aboard the helicopter, which the Pentagon indicated was out of Ford Belvoir, Virginia.
'Tower, did you see that?'
Flight surveillance data indicated that the helicopter, apparently on a training flight, was heading south along the District side of the river prior to the collision, reported the Washington Post. The plane was several hundred feet above the water when it came into contact with the Army helicopter.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy indicated during a press conference Thursday morning that the helicopter and the plane were both in a "standard flight pattern" and that based on what he has seen so far, the collision was "absolutely" preventable.
Air traffic control audio has emerged capturing the final communications between the tower and the doomed helicopter as well as observers' reactions in the immediate aftermath.
In one clip released on LiveATC.net, a repository of of air traffic audio recordings, an air traffic controller can be heard saying around the 17:30-minute mark, "PAT25, do you have CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ."
The aviator in another aircraft can be heard chiming in moments later, "Tower, did you see that?"
An air traffic controller proceeded to direct planes to circumnavigate runway 33.
'This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented.'
At the time of the collision, one air traffic controller can reportedly be heard in a recording saying, "Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three."
In another clip, an air traffic controller states, "Both the helicopter and the plane crashed into the river. It's east of the approach end of runway 33," later adding, "All runways are closed. Nobody's landing. No one is moving at all."
"I just saw a fireball, and then it was just gone," continued the air traffic controller. "I haven't seen anything since they hit the river, but it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit. I would say maybe a half-mile off the approach end of 33."
"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said at the Thursday press conference. "We don't believe there are any survivors from this accident."
Donnelly noted that the bodies of 27 people from the plane and one person from the helicopter have been recovered so far.
U.S. Figure Skating told the Post that several members of its skating community were aboard the commercial airliner when it crashed. The likely victims, including athletes, coaches, and family members, were on their way home from the National Development Camp held in Wichita in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," said the statement.
President Donald Trump responded to the crash just after midnight, suggesting that something about the incident did not compute.
"The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn[?]" the president wrote on Truth Social. "Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane[?] This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!"
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Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
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