Air traffic control recordings captured the final communications before Wednesday night’s deadly collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.
“PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight? PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller instructed the military helicopter moments before the crash, according to audio obtained from LiveATC.net. The helicopter crew acknowledged visual contact on a separate frequency, responding “PAT 2-5 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation.”
About 13 seconds later, audible gasps and a loud “oooh” were heard from the control tower as the aircraft collided.
LISTEN: #Airtrafficcontrol audio emerges from the moments before and after a #blackhawkhelicopter crashed into a packed American Airlines flight—where an employee can be heard asking a colleague if they saw what he just witnessed pic.twitter.com/JvSvaGYbPz
— Dolly van den Berg (@dendolly1) January 30, 2025
A female controller is later heard radioing fire command: “The accident happened in the river. Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river… he approached into Runway 33.” She added, “I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river.”
The American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members when it collided with the Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly confirmed Thursday morning that at least 27 bodies had been recovered from the plane and one from the helicopter.
“We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” Donnelly said. “At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
The Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet was approaching Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport after departing from Wichita, Kansas. The helicopter, from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, was conducting a training flight when the collision occurred at approximately 8:47 p.m., according to officials.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted both aircraft were following standard flight patterns. “Last night, the helicopter was in a standard pattern… The American Airlines flight coming in to land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA. So this was not unusual,” Duffy said.
The collision marks the first crash involving a U.S. commercial flight since 2009. About 300 first responders are working in near-freezing temperatures to recover victims from the Potomac River, where the water is approximately 35 degrees and 8 feet deep.