A tragic collision in the open air was located near Washington, DC on January 29, 2025.
The flight was 5342, a schedule for local passengers from Wachita, Kansas on the final approach of the runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). , CRJ700, registered in the United States as N709ps, carry sixty passengers and four crew
According to Flightradar24, the last data received from the plane was a flat flight at a height of 400 feet.
The weather was at the time with Western winds with ten miles.
The US Army helicopter, registered with the name 00-26860, had left from the Davuson Army airport on a training mission. There were three on the plane, captain, chief screaming officer 2 and employee surveys. They were flying south along the Botomac River as part of the annual evaluation of efficiency and night evaluation. The maximum permitted height of the path that the helicopter was traveling, as it wandered from Road 1 to Road 4, above the ground level of 200 feet.
The collision took place at 20:48 local time (01:48 UTC) and was reported at a height of less than 200 feet. More than three hundred respondents have been deployed, warriors against ice conditions. There were no survivors.
The foregoing ATCLIVE registration It is merged to the two frequencies so that the plane and helicopter reactions are audible at the same time. You can also listen to Two separate frequencies on the vessels. The New York Times reported that the roles of the control unit at 21:30 but were combined earlier that day, with one console that managed both frequencies, where the control unit needed to leave early.
The initial monitoring of the tower and the trip 5342 was standard for this approach. American 3130 and 427 American 427 were close to the accident plane.
Related reactions begin with the control unit warning of the helicopter around the declining journey.
Tower control unit: Pat25, traffic south of the Woodro Bridge, CRJ at a height of 1200 feet residing to the runway 33.
helicopterPat25 has traffic on the horizon. Request for visual separation.
Tower control unit: The visual separation is approved.
Tower control unit: Pat25, do you have CRJ on the horizon?
Tower control unitPat25, pass behind CRJ.
helicopter: Pat25 has the plane on the horizon, and the visual separation request.
Tower control unit: Face[ual] September[aration] consent.
An unspecified pilot in the air: Tower, have you just seen it?
Tower control unit: American 427, American 3130, Go. Turn left, heading to 350, climb and keep 3000 feet.
It is not yet clear how they ended up in the conflict. The helicopter staff requests the visual semester’s responsibility for the helicopter to see and avoid the plane. The Control Unit gave specific instructions to the helicopter to pass it behind the plane after agreeing to the visual separation. The request of the second helicopter staff for the visual semester may indicate that the helicopter does not intend to pass behind the intended plane, as this request has not been recognized. Obviously, they believed they had CRJ700 on the horizon but with three internal aircraft to DCA, the main question will be any plane by the helicopter crew In reality On the horizon.
This Google Earth photo has been published without chain of transmission New York Times He claims to show the flight path in a CRJ700 passenger plane, coming from the top right, and helicopter, traveling from left to right.
This video of Captain STEEEEVE breaks the ATC connections. I jumped forward to the frequency of the frequencies after the accident I found in particular.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Note that the helicopter was not necessarily the installation of a traffic control system (TCAS), while TCAS CRJ700 could have been inhibited while it was landing Through 1000 feet above the ground 400 feet above the ground (see comment below from Philip).
. This is to avoid continuous warnings with nearby aircraft and on the ground, which in the areas that have been largely smuggled quickly turned TCAS warnings into a dispersed disturbance. In addition, TCAS provides the intended decision -making consultations to rise and may lead to a plane near the ground. Air traffic control and visual semester control more reliable in general at low altitudes.
These are the Earthcam shots that are looking southwest, which show the effect:
Media surrounding NTSB He emphasized that participation in the investigation is:
- TSB Canada
- MHirg (previously known as Pomadier)
- Psa Airlines
- GE aerospace
- finger
- FAA
- Natca (Air traffic control units)
- AlPa (represents the pilots)
- AFA (represents the cabin staff)
- American army
Since then, NTSB has confirmed that the trip registrar has been recovered and a cockpit recorder from CRJ700. Recovery teams are still looking for a helicopter recorder.
Most of the rest of the briefing has been spent on the press not to predict reasons and that NTSB will of course think in all aspects, including human factors.
Despite this precise approach, US President Donald Trump speculated that the accident was somewhat caused by the employment of Dei (diversity, fairness, inclusion), which means that there is an error with the air traffic controller. However, when asked if there was any evidence to support this claim, he said, “It could have been.” This assertion was supported by “I have a healthy sense” and claimed that the Obama administration believed that the employees were “very white”. The Washington Post published a real examination Who refutes Trump’s claims and details of the actual FAA employment practices during the era of Obama, Trump and Biden.
The New York Times reported The tower at Reagan Airport has been considered for years and that an internal report in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that employment “is not normal for the time of today and the volume of traffic.” In ATCLIVE registration, it is clear that one console was dealing with upcoming and leaving aircraft as well as local helicopters on a different frequency. According to the New York Times, one of the observers left early and integrate the two patrols, leaving the single control unit to deal with evening traffic.
This incident ends for sixteen years without a fatal American commercial flying accident. The previous killer incident was the Colgin Air Flight 3407 in 2009. The main factors in this investigation may include the separation responsibility and conflicting expectations for aviation paths. NTSB has confirmed that they would issue a preliminary report in thirty days. Their achievement will be very important in determining the precise sequence of events and digging what is clear to determine the basic reasons.