Wichita flight to Washington DC crashed

[SHOCKvalue]

https://x.com/mhaskellphoto/status/1884798806090211817?s=46&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1PwjLDywgPOHS7f6PzGiyUNg063hMzXjmXuU82SCNJwl3Qfaxb0U4U1O8_aem_4N2jgJTtjCvX33NgqqPEIw

[ShockerFever]

Just sickening. Hits too close to home obviously.

[Speed]

Thoughts and Prayers to those effected. News in coming hours will be impactful for many Wichitans.

[SB Shock]

This is a terrible tragedy. It does not look good. All the videos I have seen look like total destruction. The water temperature was 37 degrees - that gives 15-20 minutes for any survivor to be pulled from the water.

Blog below updating as new information and images/video come in.

https://www.twz.com/air/h-60-black-hawk-collides-with-crj700-airliner-over-potomac-river

[SubGod22]

[Kung Wu]

Just awful.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - FAA: American Airlines jet from Wichita crashes into Potomac following midair collision

An American Airlines jet that left Wichita's Eisenhower National Airport on Wednesday evening crashed into the Potomac River after a midair collision with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The FAA said there were 60 passengers and four flight crew members on board the American flight. A large search-and-rescue operation began soon after the crash.

Media reports on Thursday morning indicated no survivors had yet been found. There were no other early reports of fatalities or injuries as metropolitan D.C. and Virginia authorities began the operation.

The collision happened near 9 p.m. ET, the FAA said, or near the time when American flight 5342 out of Wichita was to have landed at Reagan National.

The aircraft was a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet flying for American through PSA Airlines.

According to the AP, audio from the air traffic control tower at Reagan National indicated a controller asked the helicopter, "PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight?" referencing the commercial aircraft.

The FAA said it and the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation, with the NTSB taking the lead.

This route began in early January of last year.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - Figure skaters leaving Wichita were on board crashed American Airlines flight

Figure skaters and their families, friends and coaches visiting Wichita for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships were on board American Airlines Flight 5342 that crashed Wednesday night into the Potomac River after a midair crash with an Army helicopter.

The plane, a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet flying for American through PSA Airlines with 64 people reported on board, had as many as 15 associated with figure skating, Reuters reported.

In a statement, U.S. Figure Skating said those on board had left Wichita after a national development camp held in conjunction with the competition, which ended Sunday.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts," the organization said.

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held at Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita from Jan. 20-26, which brought thousands of ice skating fans to the city along with hundreds of athletes, coaches and others associated with the event.

Citing Russian state media, Reuters also reported ice skating coaches and former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the Wichita flight, and may have been with their son, Maxim, also a skater. Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on the flight to DCA.

28 bodies have been recovered as of around 8:30am this morning.

[SubGod22]

WBJ - D.C. chief: No survivors expected from Wichita passenger jet collision with Army helicopter

No survivors have been found among the 67 people involved in Wednesday night's midair collision between an American Airlines flight from Wichita and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington's Reagan National Airport.

Sixty passengers and four crew members were aboard the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet flying as American flight 5342. Three crew members were aboard the helicopter. Both aircraft crashed into the river adjacent to the runway where the flight was preparing to land.

Authorities said Thursday morning a search-and-rescue operation that began at about 9 p.m. ET Wednesday — about 10 minutes after the collision — found the CRJ700 in three major sections in waist-deep water. The mission has turned to recovery.

"At this point, we don't think there are any survivors from this accident," Chief John Donnelly of Washington D.C. Fire and EMS said Thursday. He said 28 bodies had been pulled from the river, including one of the Army crew members.

U.S. Figure Skating said an untold number of members and coaches were on the flight after a national development camp held in conjunction with the competition. The team is made up of top junior skaters. Russian media reported two of its nation's top figure skaters were also on the flight.

The Bombardier CRJ700 seats about 70 with two seats on either side of the aisle.

Audio from the Reagan National control tower indicates an air traffic controller asked the helicopter pilot whether they saw the American Airlines plane, which was descending from the southeast toward the runway. The controller then told the helicopter, which was heading south along the Potomac, "PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ." The collision happened seconds later.

It's hard to believe that a Blackhawk would be involved in this. Those things have so many bells and whistles to avoid things like this. I have seen reports where Trump has essentially placed all blame on the Blackhawk.

[shock]

There was a report that said the plane was losing altitude and couldn’t land at the first runway and was diverted. The Blackhawk was advised and didn’t respond.

[ShockBand]

There was a report that said the plane was losing altitude and couldn’t land at the first runway and was diverted. The Blackhawk was advised and didn’t respond.

My understanding is the AA jet was on a standard approach to runway 33, the shorter cross runway at DCA. If the graphic below of flight paths is accurate, the Blackhawk was southbound over the Potomac, which again as I understand is the standard path for helicopters in this area. The one photo I've seen of the Blackhawk wreckage shows the body of the copter mostly intact, so my total guess is that the rotor clipped a wing (and thus fuel tank) of the AA jet. Reports are that the sky was clear last night, so the two aircraft should have had visual on each other. But I would imagine the jet pilots at that point aren't looking off to the side, with their landing just seconds away. A lot of details will have to wait for the investigation to play out.

[shock]

The flight was inbound at an altitude of about 400 feet when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, the AP reported.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the flight to land on a shorter runway, and it adjusted its approach to do so.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.

https://www.kmuw.org/2025-01-29/u-s-senators-say-d-c-plane-crash-involved-inbound-flight-from-wichita

[Topshock]

My understanding is the AA jet was on a standard approach to runway 33, the shorter cross runway at DCA. If the graphic below of flight paths is accurate, the Blackhawk was southbound over the Potomac, which again as I understand is the standard path for helicopters in this area. The one photo I've seen of the Blackhawk wreckage shows the body of the copter mostly intact, so my total guess is that the rotor clipped a wing (and thus fuel tank) of the AA jet. Reports are that the sky was clear last night, so the two aircraft should have had visual on each other. But I would imagine the jet pilots at that point aren't looking off to the side, with their landing just seconds away. A lot of details will have to wait for the investigation to play out.

If you were a conspiracy theorist, you would say from the MLAT track that the helicopter stalled and waited for the aircraft and then flew into it either by the choice of the pilot or the avionics were taken over remotely.

[ShockerPrez]

I heard last night from a talking head.

Blackhawks fly along the Potomac all the time. They are supposed to stay below 200 ft. However, at night, the river is completely dark, which disorients the pilots as they can't get a visual on altitude, so they generally fly higher.

[rjl]

I obviously have family and friends in Wichita.

I also have very close family and friends in DC. I even lived in DC one summer during law school.

Other than MCI, Reagan is probably my most-often visited airport. I've taken off and landed there more times than I can remember.

After I heard of the crash last night, my first move was to text people I knew to make sure they were not on that flight. For me, thankfully, none were (that I am aware of right now). There are a ton of people who are in a much different situation than me right now and my heart goes out to them.

With two major commercial airports (three if you also count Baltimore) and multiple military bases in the area, there is a tremendous amount of air traffic in the DC metro.

I'm not sure if air traffic control is to blame (at a certain point, the pilots of the respective aircraft need their own visual), but I do know that air traffic in the United States has been taxed to its limits for a long time now.

Just a terrible situation all around. I'd be wary of anyone who tries to attribute blame this early in the situation. From the video and all accounts I have seen, it appears that the airplane was locked in and on approach to land. Once in that position, that airplane is not expected to need to dodge anything else. So I certainly would not put any blame on the airplane pilots.