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American Eagle Flight 5342 / Army Blackhawk Mid Air Collision at DCA

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  • American Eagle Flight 5342 / Army Blackhawk Mid Air Collision at DCA

    A small commercial airliner and a military helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport Wednesday evening, D.C. Fire and EMS confirmed.


    Wichita, Kansas to DCA, CRJ-700, N709PS.


  • #3
    I pulled up the flight on Flight Radar 24, and no ADS-B on the Black Hawk. In fact, no Black Hawk what-so-ever.

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    • #4
      The CRJ was on a stabilized approach to Runway 33. ATC instructed the Black Hawk to pass behind the CRJ. Collision occurred at 400 ft AGL.

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      • #5
        I get the feeling this was an accident waiting to happen and this proximity on converging flight paths in increasingly crowded airspace had become common and acceptable. Another under-addressed issue in the US that will hopefully get some serious attention at last. Safe margins are the foundation of aviation safety.

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        • #6
          There’s a broad, general procedure to send crossing aircraft directly over the top of the airport where the planes are really low. Seems like that might be a good idea for DCA. Then again, go-arounds, so never mind.
          Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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          • #7
            Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stated at the news conference this morning that both aircraft were following standard flight paths. To my naïve thinking this means either that it was inevitable that this was going to happen because the flight paths intersect, or this statement is not true and at least one aircraft was not on the expected path. Either way something doesn't add up to me. Is it really the case that intersecting flight paths exist especially in such a crowded airspace as DCA?
            Last edited by iandiver; 2025-01-31, 12:37. Reason: Clarifying who made the statement. Now it seems the helicopter was around 350-400 feet instead of at 200 where it should have been.

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            • #8
              what effin idiot allows NON-ESSENTIAL military aircraft to fly training flights in close proximity to an already complex environment? in darkness no less!

              seems to me that a whole lot of people are suffering from cranio-rectal insertion disorder and need to be fired, shot, jailed for life, whatever. jesus, 70 people dead because the us army wanted to play gi-effin joe.

              end of rant. maybe.

              was there no TCAS because the helo didnt have ads-b? were they too low for tcas?

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              • #9
                Originally posted by TeeVee View Post
                ...was there no TCAS because the helo didnt have ads-b? were they too low for tcas?
                That's the puzzling one because according to a report both had TCAS and both should have received a TA. (No RA below 1000ft)
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                • #10
                  The CRJ was turning left, so unfortunately, the helicopter was probably blind spotted- AND the pilots would have assumed themselves in sight.

                  Dan JUAN suggested that the CRJ might have been mixed in with lights on the ground from the helicopter viewpoint.


                  Les règles de l'aviation de base découragent de longues périodes de dur tirer vers le haut.

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                  • #11


                    Man, this looks almost intentional. How could the Blackhawk pilots miss the CRJ? A comment in AvHerald reflects exactly my thought. Not mentioned in the comment, but add that they were coming heads-on:

                    Visual separation at night is fine - night VFR is a thing. The CRJ descending down on them (with only the sky as background and landing lights on) was blindingly lit and absolutely impossible to miss. As landing traffic and as advised by ATC, the CRJ had the right of way.

                    However, whether applying visual separation in the control zone, across occupied short final of a busy airport, was a good idea will probably be subject of review...

                    Actions of PAT25 seem in no way consistent with his intention of crossing behind, or with any sort of separation rule, unless he had a terribly wrong idea about where the CRJ was headed. But in this excellent visibility and runway lights on, the airport would have been glaringly obvious as well and there should have been no question about its intended flight path. We may never know what the misunderstanding might have been, unless PAT25 have a CVR.​
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                    • #12
                      Originally posted by 3WE View Post
                      Dan JUAN suggested that the CRJ might have been mixed in with lights on the ground from the helicopter viewpoint.
                      How so? The CRJ was higher than the heli and descending.

                      --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                      --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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                      • #13


                        We can so clearly see it from miles away. Look at the landing lights of the closer plane not involved in the crash. It should have been much more obvious than even that for the helicopter pilots. The cockpit mut have been flooded by the landing lights of the CRJ.

                        Blinded? Perhaps. Target fixation? Maybe. Missing them or confusing them with ground lights? hardly, I would think impossible.

                        --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                        --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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                        • #14
                          looks like the Blackhawk flied straight into the airline jet, terrible disaster.

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                          • #15
                            VasAviation ATC:



                            And this is with the transmissions from the helicopter in a different frequency:

                            --- Judge what is said by the merits of what is said, not by the credentials of who said it. ---
                            --- Defend what you say with arguments, not by imposing your credentials ---

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