BREAKING: Two Planes collide at DCA/Reagan National. Full Details unknown, DCA On a Ground Stop

A second video has surfaced from a different angle and one can plainly see PAT 25 fly into the path or actually into the American Eagle flight. I cannot comment on whether or not that PAT 25 had ADS-B and had it activated or not, but from the CRJ, we can see that it was flying at 139 MPH and at 400' when it stopped transmitting. FAA approved Route 4 (as seen on the Balt-Wash_Heli.pdf sectional) has a specific maximum altitude of 200' MSL north of the Wilson Bridge.

Per the track of PAT 25 (Captain Steeeve uses the helo sectional to help illustrate all this) has the tracks of both aircraft from ATC radar overlaid on the sectional and one can see that PAT 25 is off the prescribed route even before the turn (and can be seen in the above link from the squawk above).

As former aircrew, I had my head on a swivel as SoCal traffic is horrendous and we had no such thing as ADS-B back then and the two biggest worries we had as rotorheads were fast movers (we often called them suck and blows) running us over from John Wayne or El Toro, or the occasional flights into March AFB (gear down and welded was the reply of the pilot one time when told to check gear down and locked). Flying at night has its challenges and trying to pick out other aircraft below one's altitude is not easy.

The big questions that very well may be unanswered is which aircraft did PAT 25 actually see? The aircraft on departure, the aircraft it ran into, or a 3rd aircraft behind the American Eagle flight that was going to be landing behind the lost flight.

Military helicopter pilots and crews have to train day and night. That makes perfect sense. What doesn't make sense is why they have to train so close to the flight paths of one of the nation's busiest airports. I understand the need to fly in DC airspace for security purposes, but DC has a large metro area in which to train without being so close to the Reagan National runways. One more thing, why didn't the ATC shout to the Blackhawk pilot to abort the path instead of just calmly asking if he saw the CRJ seconds before impact?

I do not know what the helicopter was broadcasting, but this accident could and should lead to all governmental aircraft being required to broadcast their full ads-b at all times. Period. I see many Broward County Sheriff aircraft flying blind in the congested airspace surrounding Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport . As a pilot, I know the value of seeing traffic “on my screen” as well as visually. A change would benefit everyone.

Just another sad indication that VFR separation in dense TCUs especially at night is not a good or feasible option.

on youtube ATC shows the HELO climbing out of 200 while the CRJ was on approach. It initially turns right, assuming wanting to avoid the first aircraft, which ironically was also a CRJ ( 900 not a 700 which was the accident aircraft ) Then turns back ( WHY ) ----- maintains 200 for a min or so then starts to climb as the approach CRJ is descending...... at 200ft and the RJ at 900 initially, probably be hard to see the high speed CRJ on approach 700 above ? Such an avoidable accident for all involved..... gross...just gross

Any attempt to identify a cause at this point would be mere speculation.

I am not a pilot. I have flown on my share on civilian and military aircraft as well as jumped out of them at various levels. My question to those of you who are knowledgable is what constitutes an experienced pilot in terms of hours flown? I have seen that the pilot was said to have 1,000 hours experience. Is that experienced from your standpoint? Some very experienced rotary wing folks at my VA were surprised at the chopper being out of position especially given the location. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Live updates here: "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/live-updates-plane-crashes-potomac-river-collision-helicopter-reagan-n-rcna189942"

There is a suggestion that the American Airlines flight was asked to change to a different runway fairly late in it's approach which may be significant. Given it's proximity to the White House I think it would be safe to assume that any aircraft movements in that area are monitored far more strictly than the norm which may help with any investigation into this tragic accident.
Our thoughts are of course with the families and friends of all those who have loss their lives on this terrible day.

With CRJ in a left, circling turn to runway 33 and the helicopter coming from the right and below, the underbelly of the CRJ would have been oriented toward the helicopter. Directional landing lights obscured from view. Anti collision light obstructed by the vertical stabilizer, cabin windows tilted away. Navigation lights possibly visible, but not recognizable due to the bank angle. The CRJ may have been an invisible ghost ship to the helicopter. Not a good arrangement for night VFR.

No public comments. Let the investigation handle it. 1-2 years. Handled at the highest level.

WTF you ever need to accept 33 but for the obvious reason. No more cross runway roulette at Reagan. KISS. As they say.

Possibility of an altimeter setting error?

I've heard that the UH-60 did not have a CVR installed, and I have also heard that the "black box" in the Black Hawk was a combination FDR and CVR.

My question would be what was going on in the cockpit of the UH-60 leading up to the time of the accident? Was the cockpit "sterile" as would, or should, be the case of a commercial airliner on final approach to an airport or was the flight crew possibly distracted from their mission chatting about things other than the mission at hand?

Depending on whether or not there is recorded evidence of what was being said of the flight deck of that UH-60, we may never really know and the NTSB's findings will not be entirely complete and subject, possibly, to conjecture.

Weather on that day had strong winds from the west. The Blackhawk call sign PAT 25 was on a training mission, having departed Belvoir Virginia.

It’s a common thing at Washington DC Potomac region to see the Green military helicopters operating at low altitude above the Potomac river . RIP to the victims

Does the helicopter run ADS-B?

So sad.... Human Errors are inevitable even after hours of training..

I like this Control Tower view. As stated in the article, it is “ cool that customers could see where they are on the airfield. It’d be great to have that airfield terminal level where you could actually see where you're at. As an aviation enthusiast, I look forward to using this on my next flight.

Could the Blackhawk's rotors obscured the pilot's view of the CRJ avoidance lights?

Thanks Jeff Steiner for the 7-minute video. That and Meg from Flying Magazine’s printed comments are the best analysis I’ve seen.

The two aircraft were roughly flying toward each other. How did the helicopter pilots not see the extremely bright landing lights of the jet? I assume the helicopter pilots were using night vision. But don't you still see lights when using night vision?

PSA Flight 5342 ICT-DCA

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/JIA5342/history/20250129/2328Z/KICT/KDCA

If I’m off base here tell me. Did
That look deliberate to anyone else? After seeing the video it appeared the chopper had plenty of time to turn or increase altitude or go lower but it went straight for the plane.

Did anyone else get over 6 copies of this in their email?

Reagan is not dual runway airport. Been playing games with people too long. 1/19 only.

Your comment is uninformed and inappropriate.

American, Delta and United Legacy Carriers must be given mandatory full control of DC Ronald Reagan National Airport. Ban US Military Operations 60 miles from the geographic center of DCA. Ban ALL LCC, ULCC Carriers. Ban Express Feeder Passenger Carriers associated with the legacy carriers. Ban ALL General Aviation business. DHL, Fed-Ex, UPS, USPS must follow mandatory procedures requested by legacy passenger carriers. ALL cargo carriers not associated with the aforementioned cargo carries must be banned. Mandatory hours of operations 0630 -1800, NO EXCEPTIONS.