WASHINGTON D.C. — The skies above Washington, D.C. were witness to a horrifying sight when American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport Jan. 29.
Reports state the crash happened aROUND 9 pm ET about three miles south of the White House and U.S. Capitol.
The two AIRcraftS plummeted into the Potomac River, resulting in the deaths of all 67 passengers aboard both vessels. Recovery efforts of the wreckage and the passengers was still underway as of Jan. 31.
TIMELINE OF THE INCIDENT
The American Airlines jet out of Wichita, Kansas with about 60 passengers and four crew was preparing to land. At the same time, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia was on a training exercise carrying three soldiers, per the Federal Aviation Administration.
Several minutes before the jet was set to land, air traffic controllers asked Flight 5342 if it could use a shorter runway. The pilots agreed and controllers cleared the landing.
But less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the plane in sight. The military pilot reportedly responded "yes."
Moments later, the controller made another call to the helicopter, allegedly telling the pilots to wait for the jet to pass. But there was no reply and the aircrafts collided.
THE INVESTIGATION BEGINS
A full aviation investigation can take upwards of 12-18 months to complete, so no official comments were issued on the crash as of Jan. 31.
However, President Donald Trump asserted both in a post-crash conference as well as online that the nation’s diversity efforts led to the undermining of aviation training and safety. This comes with other reports of those efforts being scaled back under the new administration. The President later stated that the cause of the crash is currently unknown.
Additional reports have stated that the airline traffic tower was understaffed at the time of the crash, with only one person performing a job that normally has two workers. These come just over a week after the previous head of the Federal Aviation Administration resigned at the beginning of the new presidency on top of a number of other hiring freezes and departures.
As of Jan. 31, 48 of the victims have been identified, including youth figure skaters and their coaches and families.
