The fatal collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter at Reagan International Airport on Wednesday night was likely a culmination of factors, according to aviation attorney Jim Brauchle, who says “we’ve been lucky” there haven’t been more air accidents.
Brauchle is a former U.S. Air Force navigator who now represents families of victims involved in aviation disasters, including the 2019 Boeing 737 Max 8 crash that killed 157 persons in Ethiopia shortly after takeoff and a 2014 Army Black Hawk helicopter crash that killed a soldier and seriously injured two others on board during a training flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia.
“I hate to say this, but a lot of people in the aviation industry have predicted that there was going to be an accident,” Brauchle told Fox News Digital. “No one wants to, you know, say that out loud because obviously that’s a horrific thing. But there’s been a lot of near misses over the last several years. And we’ve been, you know, we’ve been lucky that there haven’t been more of these.”
The collision happened around 9 p.m. EST when a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. The regional jet had departed from Wichita, Kansas.
“You’re combining all these different aircraft, all different types of aircraft, all in a very confined space,” he said, noting the swath of restricted airspace in the D.C. area due to national security concerns. “And that’s kind of what’s unique, I think, about Reagan is that it is so congested in such a confined space.”
The cause of the collision remains unknown in the hours after the accident. Hundreds of first responders conducted a massive search-and-rescue operation for survivors, though the operation turned into a recovery later Thursday morning.
Rescue workers respond to the scene on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Brauchle said that, based on his experiences litigating and investigating such accidents with the Charleston, South Carolina-based Motley Rice law firm, the families of those who died are likely in shock because airplane accidents are “not supposed to happen.”
“What I’ve also seen from the families is they’re always looking for answers,” he said. “They want to know why this happened. Why did they lose their loved one?”
Brauchle said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will likely release a preliminary report in 30 days, and thinks that families will eventually seek litigation as a result of this accident.
The NTSB is leading the investigation into the midair collision, with investigators from the FAA assisting.
