It was a clear, cold night in Washington DC on January 29, when at 8.47 pm, a bright orange and red flame suddenly erupted in the sky.
A video that has been widely viewed shows a shocking event – the dramatic crash between a commuter jet and a US military helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
Voice recordings of air traffic controllers tell of the horror.
‘Crash, crash, crash,’ one can be heard saying. ‘This is an alert three.’
‘I just saw a fireball and then it was gone,’ said another.
The situation looked grim as by early Thursday, nearly 30 bodies had been recovered from the cold river waters. Out of the total 67 individuals on board (60 passengers and four crew members on the plane, and three pilots on the helicopter), there were sadly no anticipated survivors.
Now comes the investigation – and unanswered questions abound.
The aircraft involved was Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700 belonging to American Eagle Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines. This flight was on its final approach to DCA following a non-stop journey of two hours and 45 minutes from Wichita, Kansas.
A disturbing video showed the explosive collision between a commuter jet and a US military helicopter above the Potomac River close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Pictured: The wreckage in the Potomac River).
The Army helicopter – a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk – had taken off from Fort Belvoir, a base near Langley, Virginia, around 16 miles from the crash site.
Both aircraft now lie in waist-deep water, where investigators are pouring over the debris, searching for clues of what may have caused the deadliest aviation disaster in more than 15 years.
Similarly, the over-riding concern of the bereaved – and Americans in general – is how on earth this could have happened. Here, the Daily Mail explores some of the key questions the crash raises:
Did the Black Hawk pilots not see Flight 5342?
Regional commuter planes are typically fitted with strobe and navigation lights on the wingtips (red on the left, green on the right) and a white light on the tail. A flashing red beacon on the top of the fuselage is designed to alert other aircraft in the area. And, often upon landing, a spotlight is illuminated.
With all these signals blazing, one wonders how an Army helicopter crew could not have seen the commuter plane. Indeed, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the helicopter crew was ‘fairly experienced’ and was even using night-vision goggles.
Though, President Donald Trump speculated at a White House briefing of Thursday that such equipment can actually impair a pilot by narrowing their field of vision.
‘It may change your view… if you do have the night vision,’ Trump said. ‘That would be maybe a reason why you wouldn’t actually see as well on a clear night.’
A former Army Black Hawk pilot offered another explanation, telling the Mail that the lights of a plane can easily be lost in the glare of a cityscape like Washington DC.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (pictured) said that the helicopter crew was ‘fairly experienced’ and was even using night-vision goggles.
What caused the DCA air traffic control failure?
Newly confirmed US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced in that White House briefing attended by President Trump that Flight 5342 and the Black Hawk were traveling along well-known flight paths.
‘This was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA,’ Duffy said, while adding that the accident was ‘absolutely’ preventable.
A preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report released Thursday found that staffing in the DCA control tower was ‘not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’ at the time of the crash.
The FAA is also currently leaderless. Now former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker resigned the day before Trump took office, even though his five-year term would have ended in October 2028.
A recording of the DCA air traffic controllers exchange with the Black Hawk reveal the controller asked the pilots if they saw Flight 5342 less than 30 seconds before the crash.
President Trump noted that is not sufficient warning.
After the explosion lit up the sky, they and their colleagues can be heard asking, ‘Did you see that?’
Did Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies play a role in the crash?
On Thursday, Tennessee Republican congressman Andy Ogles raised the suggestion that DEI policies, including hiring preferences for non-white and disabled candidates may have contributed to the collision.
‘I think you have to look at this with eyes wide open, see what happened,’ Ogles said on the Fox Business Network. ‘Human error. Was it some sort of equipment failure? Did DEI play a role in this type of thing?’
President Trump addressed the DEI issue himself at the White House briefing.
‘[The crash] just could have been [caused by DEI policies],’ he said. ‘You have to go by psychological quality, and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful tests that we put to use. And they were terminated by Biden. And Biden went by a standard that seeks the exact opposite.’
Why didn’t Flight 5342’s early warning systems prevent the crash?
Questions have been raised about the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System fitted on commercial airliners.
The software creates a 3D picture of the airspace and continuously scans the area to gather data from transponders of nearby aircrafts. It alerts pilots if another aircraft is dangerously close.
However, TCAS has some limitations. Below 1,000 feet, the system is less sensitive to potential threats so as not to distract pilots during landing. The crash occurred below 300 feet.
Why was a military helicopter in DCA airspace?
A former Army serviceman, who spoke to the Mail on condition of anonymity, raised questions over the wisdom of training missions in proximity to the airport.
‘Even as far as the training goes, I can’t think of anything they would have been doing,’ said the former Blackwater operative, who also completed several tours of Afghanistan and Iraq. ‘Training isn’t usually done in such high traffic areas.’
Defense Secretary Hegseth said Thursday that the Black Hawk was participating in a ‘routine annual training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission’ which refers to preparations to keep the government functioning in case of a major catastrophe or attack.
He added ‘The military does dangerous things.’
As to the three military personnel on board the helicopter, the Army has only released the name of the Black Hawk crew chief Ryan O’Hara, a father-of-one.
Why did DCA air traffic control approve a last-minute runway change?
A few minutes before Flight 5342 was due to touch down on runway 1, the longest of DCA’s three runways, air traffic controllers asked the pilots to change course. And the American Airlines flight was directed to land on the shorter runway 33.
Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjusted its approach to the new runway – putting the aircraft on its eventual collision course with the Black Hawk.
Retired Air Force Brigadier General John Teichert told NewsNation that this change alone shouldn’t have caused a crash. ‘I think that while they would have been told to switch runways, it’s not this aggressive maneuver in a regional jet that would prompt them to reposition and be a surprise to the Black Hawk,’ he said.
The reason for the runway change is unknown.
Did poor air traffic controller instructions cause the accident?
An air traffic control veteran of 23 years’ experience, now retired, listened to the air traffic controller’s instructions to the Black Hawk and raised serious concerns with the Mail.
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, called the DCA control tower instructions ‘very ambiguous.’
The recording reveals how DCA controllers asked the Black Hawk pilots, ‘PAT25 [The helicopter’s call sign], do you have the CRJ in sight?’ The air traffic controller then tells the helicopter pilot to ‘pass behind’ the American Airlines jet.
‘Whenever you give directions to people we use the 12 points on a clock. Let’s say 12 o’clock is north if I say, ‘Look to your nine o’clock’ that would mean look to your left or to the west,’ the Mail’s source said.
‘So if I had a helicopter that was coming into my airspace and I wanted him to see an airplane I would say “PAT 25 traffic, nine o’clock, three miles regional jet inbound to the airport.”‘
A former Army serviceman, who spoke to the Mail on condition of anonymity, raised questions over the wisdom of training missions in proximity to the airport. (Pictured:Â Sikorsky UH-60 “Black Hawk” helicopters).
An air traffic control veteran called the DCA control tower instructions ‘very ambiguous.’ (Pictured:Â A plane flies near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport).
Who are the victims?
The Daily Mail exclusively identified the deceased crew as pilots Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29. They died alongside flight attendants Ian Epstein, 34, and Danasia Elder, 29. Danasia had recently gotten engaged.
Other victims on the flight – the only direct route between the two airports daily – included 14 figure skaters. The athletes had participated in the National Development Camp at the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, US Figure Skating confirmed to The New York Post.
Six skaters were members of The Skating Club of Boston, including two teens, Spencer Lane, 16 – who had snapped a photo of the plane in flight —and Jinna Han, 13. Christine Lane, 49, and Jin Han, 49, their respective mothers, also died. The pair’s Russian coaches were also on board: Evgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56, who had become world champions in 1994.
