‘Oh my’: scream picked up in the background of radio transmissions
Air-traffic control data shows there was early instruction for the army helicopter to avoid the passenger jet before the midair collision horror that has roiled Washington.
Just after 8.47pm on Wednesday (local time), an air-traffic controller at Reagan National Airport relayed a seemingly ordinary inquiry and instruction: “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?” he asked a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, requesting it keep a lookout for an American Airlines Bombardier jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Kan. The helicopter was on a training mission, officials would later say.
“PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” the controller then said as American Airlines flight 5342 descended over the Potomac River just moments before landing. “CRJ” is aviation shorthand for Canadair Regional Jet.
Within 19 seconds, the horror of the two colliding aircraft became clear. “Oh my …!” someone yelled, a scream briefly picked up in the background of radio transmissions as air-traffic control worked to redirect planes to nearby airports.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is in Virginia, tucked right alongside the Potomac River and across from Washington, DC, and Maryland.
Its proximity to the nation’s capital is so close that pilots have to closely hew the river’s path to avoid Washington’s restricted airspace, with the White House and other landmarks clearly visible on some approaches.
Audio transmissions and flight-tracking data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal offer an early look into the moments before and after the midair crash that roiled the nation’s capital as emergency crews worked to rescue potential survivors in freezing Potomac waters. The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
It couldn’t be determined if the Black Hawk heard or acknowledged the request to keep an eye out for the Bombardier. A former federal aviation official told the Journal that air-traffic controllers gave the helicopter clear instructions to pass behind it.
Both aircraft were somewhere between 200 and 400 feet over the Potomac around the moment they collided, according to records reviewed by the Journal. The passenger jet was seconds away from finishing its roughly three-hour flight from Kansas.
After the officials realised a tragic collision had occurred, they scrambled to divert other flights away from National Airport. Some were asked to go to Washington Dulles International. Others were redirected to Baltimore-Washington International in Maryland.
“Tower, did you see that?” an unknown aircraft called in, apparently referring to the resulting explosion bright enough that it was captured miles away on surveillance footage.
Moments later, an American Airlines Airbus 319 from New Orleans was about to land at National before it was told to divert. The plane would head northeast before landing 27 minutes later in Baltimore.
Flights were halted. Several dozen emergency crews rushed to the scene of the crash, just south of the airport’s upper departure area with dozens more coming through, with more than 300 people aiding the search for survivors. Sirens and emergency vehicle lights could be seen on the river’s edge on the other side of the tarmac.
The crash site appeared to stretch on the river from just south of the main terminal south down the river. Dozens of police cars and other emergency vehicles also streamed through the airport.
On the riverbanks around the airport, police strung up yellow police tape and blocked nearby roads as helicopters hovered overhead. Police said a search-and-rescue operation was under way to pull possible survivors out of the water. They spent hours searching, but, as of Thursday morning, they had not found anyone who survived the crash.
“Do you have any searchlight or anything on board that could help us shed some light on the east end of the field?” one controller asked an unknown aircraft, according to audio records from the site LiveATC.net.
Fire officials said early Thursday that the search was taking place entirely in the water and would likely take “multiple days.” Inside the airport’s terminal, a recorded announcement on repeat said the airport was closed, and that passengers should contact their airlines to rebook their flights.
By 9pm, it was up to controllers to relay the grim news to incoming aircraft. That included briefing a Delta Air Lines jet that the airport was now shut down.
“Yeah,” the pilot replied. “We saw the whole thing.” As of shortly before 8am on Thursday, rescue officials had recovered 27 bodies from the plane and one from the helicopter, John Donnelly, Washington DC’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services chief told reporters.
During a Thursday press conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said they had “early indicators” of what happened but didn’t provide additional details.
– Andrew Tangel, Gordon Lubold, Nancy A. Youssef and Vera Bergengruen contributed to this article.
Dow Jones Newswires
More Coverage
‘Hour of anguish’: Control tower under-staffed, Trump blames DEI
Preliminary FAA report finds one air traffic controller was guiding both helicopters and planes on the night of the Potomac mid-air crash, Trump blames diversity hires for undermining standards.
Trump’s pick to lead FBI doesn’t support pardons for Jan 6 rioters
Kash Patel said he did not support blanket pardons for rioters who had engaged in violence against police — putting distance between himself from the President.