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The search and rescue teams work after the collision of American Eagle Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter, which collided with the Potomak River, with the dome of the Capitol in the background, as seen from Virginia, USA, January 30, 2025.
Carlos Baria Reuters
How the Army Black Hawk helicopter is confronted with American Airlines Jetliner in a Deadly It is still unknown over Wednesday evening, but questions are emerging, including the altitude of the military helicopter.
Investigators are still downloading evidence from Potomac and views everything from the newly downloaded flight data and information on the voice recorder of the cockpit. All 64 people American Airlines Flight 5342 all three on board the helicopter were killed in fiery ball Near Washington, Reagan National Airport in the UK, marking the most deadly air accident in the United States since 2001.
The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft flew about 300 feet at the latest approach on the Ragan National Run 33 shortly before 9:00 pm ET on Wednesday when it collided with the Black Hawk helicopter.
PSA Airlines is one of the subsidiaries of the US flying on regional routes, flights available on the market as an American eagle.
The emergency staff operates near the site of the crash, with the US Capitol in the background after a flight of the American Eagle 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter as it approached the Ronald Reagan Washington Airport and crashes in the Potomak River, USA USA On January 30, 2025
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Defense Minister Pete Heget said a helicopter is on an annual flight for training.
According to the rules of the federal aviation administration, helicopters that regularly cross and around Washington, between military bases, Pentagon and other places, they must fly in the area near the airport to a maximum of 200 feet.
“In DC, this is some kind of unique environment,” said a member of the National Transport Safety Council Todd Inman at a briefing on Thursday afternoon. He noted that there are helicopter or song areas in Washington. “This one went from Track One to four as part of their normal procedure. If you live in DC, you see many helicopters descend into this area. So there is a very well defined system.”
FAA on Friday has issued new restrictions on helicopter flights around Washington, Colombia County, Reagan National Airport, with some exceptions to medical evacuation and law enforcement operations, the Agency told NBC News.
Currently, air space between certain bridges or zone 1 is not active. In the nearby zone 4 of helicopters, they are allowed to fly only south of the Urdrow Wilson Bridge.
Airspace is one of the most diligent in the country, and a national Reagan says its main track is the most busy in the United States
“As you turn around to get in line with the track, your concentration is on the flight path to get on the track quickly and stop the plane,” says John Cox, a retired airline pilot and aviation safety consultant.
NTSB is investigating the collision that ended with a fiery ball. The agency said it was still collecting information and that it was too early to draw conclusions.
“Not that we have no information. We have information,” NTSB chairman Jennifer Homidi said. “We have significant amounts of information. We need to check the information. We need to take the time to make sure it is accurate.”
NTSB has restored flight data and voice recorder for the pilot cabin from the passenger plane. The boxes have been taken to NTSB Labs for evaluation, the agency said.
(Editors’ Note: The image contains graphic content) In this distribution of the US coastline, the coast guards investigated the remains of the Potomak River aircraft on January 30, 2025 in Washington, Colombia County.
Fifth officer 1st class of Brandon Jails | US Coast Guard Distribution Ghetto images
President Donald Trump on Friday wrote on True social that the helicopter “flew too high, from a lot. It was far over the 200 -legged limit. It’s not really too complicated to understand, right ???”
Heget made a similar statement at a White House briefing on Thursday.
“Tragic, a mistake was made last night,” he said. “There was some problem with the elevation, which we immediately started investigating at the DOD and Army level.”
Both statements were unusual After the crash and the early stages of airline investigation.
The incident ends a decade and a half period of air safety in the United States, which has not observed a fatal trade accident since 2009, although passenger traffic has increased by more than 25% of new records. This catastrophe has caused a number of tougher pilot training and resting standards.
The shortage of air traffic controllers has been worried for years, and a number of close calls to US airports have made control of lawmakers and regulators.
Reagan National Staff at the night of the crash was not normal for the size of traffic and the time of the day of the crash night, according to a preliminary FAA safety report on the collision, NBC reported on Thursday.
Referring to a source, the NBC said the airport tower usually has a controller that focuses on a helicopter traffic, although the FAA instructions allow this position to be combined with the position of another controller so that one controller controls both aircraft, so and helicopters. FAA did not respond to a request for a comment on the report.
NBC News reported on Friday, citing a source familiar with the investigation that the head of the Reagan National Tower left a controller to leave his shift early.
