‘Did you see that?’: Chilling air traffic controller audio of Washington, DC plane crash

The chaotic scenes in the aftermath of the Washington, DC plane crash have been laid bare after the reality of the situation sank in.

Chilling audio from Air Traffic Control captured the moment the flight safety agency reported the horrific mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Blackhawk military helicopter.

On Wednesday night, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter exploding in a fiery impact as it approached Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, the New York Post reported.

In a recording of air tower communications at the time of the horror collision, captured by LiveATC.net, an aircraft can be heard calling the tower just seconds after the CRJ700 Bombardier jet carrying 64 passengers and crew got in touch.

“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller said at 8:47pm local time.

Seconds later, another aircraft called in, appearing to refer to the mid-air explosion.

“Tower, did you see that?” one air traffic controller asked, referring to the collision.

Another air traffic controller then redirected all aircraft heading to runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National airport to go around.

“Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,” one of the air traffic controllers can be heard saying in the audio.

“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into 33,” another air traffic controller was heard saying. “We’re going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future.”

“Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” a third air traffic controller said.

“It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.”

The collision was caught on a webcam at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.

Earlier on, another air traffic controller was heard recounting what he saw take place.

“It was probably out in the middle river. I just saw a fireball and then it was gone,” the air traffic controller can be heard on audio shared on X.

“I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was CRJ and a helicopter that hit, I would say, maybe a half mile off the approach into 33,” the controller said in a call to Fire Command.

Onlookers reported a bright landing light being lit up as a smaller light flew toward the nearby airport before the two aircraft collided.

Several witnesses have since revealed what they saw take place at the moment of impact.

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.

Originally published as ‘Did you see that?’: Chilling air traffic controller audio of Washington, DC plane crash