PASSENGER PLANE COLLIDES WITH ARMY HELICOPTER

CRANE LIFTS PLANE WRECKAGE FROM POTOMAC RIVER (IMAGE CREDIT TO THE NATIONAL DESK)

On January 29th, 2025 around 8:47 PM, PSA Airlines Flight 5342 (marketed as American Eagle) collided with a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC. Flight 5342 had been navigating from Wichita, Kansas and was about half a mile away from their destination of runway 33 at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. The Black Hawk helicopter was performing an annual test to evaluate the pilot's night abilities.

Initial data shows the collision most likely occurred at an altitude of 325 feet even though Reagan National requires helicopters using that route to remain at or below 200 feet. A single air traffic controller was managing both aircraft which is typically deemed unusual for that time of day. The helicopter crew had been warned twice about the approaching passenger plane and despite being warned a full two minutes before the collision, the two aircraft impacted one another killing all sixty-seven people aboard. Efforts to recover the plane wreckage have continued successfully and all but one of the victims have been identified.