Some conspiracy theorists are promoting unfounded theories that the tragic collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet was intentional.
The incident occurred as American Airlines Flight 5342 was approaching Washington’s Reagan National Airport at approximately 9 pm on Wednesday. The two aircraft collided mid-air before plunging into the Potomac River.
The airplane held four crew members and 60 passengers, and the helicopter carrying three soldiers on a ‘training flight’.Â
Although officials have not confirmed the number of casualties, the remains of 30 individuals have been recovered thus far. Authorities fear that there may be no survivors among the victims.
The Army and Defense Department has launched an investigation into the crash as many question how a plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation’s capital.Â
Conspiracy theorists have rushed to social media to place uncorroborated blame on the US government, suggesting the collision must have been intentional because ‘military helicopters don’t fly into planes’.
Some allege the helicopter appeared to ‘chase’ the Bombadier plane as it approached for landing, comparing the scene to a ‘1970s-style assassination’.
Others have demanded to ‘know who was on that passenger plane’, suggesting that the incident was a ‘targeted hit’.
Conspiracy theorists have branded the horrific crash as ‘suspicious’, alleging that trained pilots would know how to navigate this type of situation.
‘This plane crash is so strange… something is off,’ one X user shared. ‘A Blackhawk not having alarms going, 3 soldiers not seeing a effin commercial plane?Â
‘A army pilot who doesn’t understand how to navigate close to an airport? Even if training? Yeah this smells bad.’
Another user echoed the claim, arguing that ‘helicopters do not crash into airplanes’ and ‘airplanes do not crash into helicopters’.
‘Ain’t no way. Somebody needs to check who was on that plane or who was allegedly in that helicopter. This smells BAD,’ the poster added.Â
‘This looks deliberate to me,’ one Instagram user commented on a video of the collision. ‘Watch this clip, especially the slow motion part, the plane is coming in to land and the helicopter comes in from the left and flies straight into it.’
Another added: ‘Crazy how this even happened. Helicopters are so easily maneuvered compared to a plane, in the video it looks like it drives right into the plane without trying to turn.
‘Super weird and tragic.’Â
‘I find it hard to believe an army helicopter didn’t have enough intel to avoid this,’ another user wrote.
Dozens of social media users have called for more details about those on board the aircraft, baselessly claiming there was ‘larger agenda at play’.
‘We need to know who was on these planes because it looks like that Blackhawk flew directly into it,’ one X user wrote.
‘Bottom line: this doesn’t feel random,’ replied another. ‘The real question is whether it was a botched op, a targeted hit, or a larger agenda at play.Â
‘My bet? Something was in that Black Hawk, or someone was on that plane, and this wasn’t supposed to be public.’
One theorist added: ‘All I’m going to say is I’m very curious who was on the plane that is now in the Potomac River, because military helicopters don’t just run into passenger planes.’Â
‘Things like this shouldn’t happen. A week into the term, this becomes very suspicious,’ one X user said, to which another replied: ‘A lot of things that shouldn’t happen, happen now. People are cooked. But this is so fishy. It sure seems like a lot more than ‘oops’. I’ll be very interested in emerging details.’
Authorities have not yet indicated what caused the crash, but there is nothing to suggest any validity to the wild theories being shared online.
The Bombadier plane operated by an American Airlines subsidiary was approaching Reagan National Airport at around 9pm after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.
US Army officials said the helicopter involved was a Black Hawk carrying three soldiers on a ‘training flight’.
A massive search and rescue operation is in progress, with divers visible in the glare of powerful lights as they plunged into the snow-lined Potomac to scour the wreckage of both aircraft.
Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a press briefing that emergency crews, totaling about 300 people, were working in ‘extremely rough’ conditions and gave little indication they expected to find anyone alive.
‘We’re going to be out there as long as it takes,’ Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters.
Officials have not said how many people died in the accident but have suggested that there may be no survivors. It is the first major commercial air crash in the US in 16 years.Â
US Figure Skating said several athletes, coaches and officials were aboard the flight, while officials in Moscow confirmed married Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov – who won the 1994 world pairs title – were on the jet.
President Donald Trump said in an official statement that he had been ‘fully briefed’, and added of any victims, ‘may God bless their souls.’
Less than four hours after the disaster – and while other officials stressed they were waiting for investigations to unfold – he took to social media to critique air traffic control.
‘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,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
‘Why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. 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!!!’
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National and the airport is not due to reopen until 11am EST Thursday.
American Airlines’ chief executive issued a video statement in which he expressed ‘deep sorrow’, while US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas called the collision ‘nothing short of a nightmare.’
It was unclear how a passenger plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation’s capital.
The airspace around Washington is often crowded, with planes coming in low over the city to land at Reagan Airport and helicopters – military, civilian and carrying senior politicians or officials – buzzing about both day and night.
The same airport was the scene of a deadly crash in January 1982 when Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, took off but quickly plummeted, hitting the 14th Street bridge and crashing through the ice into the Potomac River. Seventy-eight people died.
Investigators concluded the pilot had failed to activate sufficient de-icing procedures.
The last major fatal US air accident was in 2009, when Continental Flight 3407 from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York crashed and killed all 49 people aboard.
