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At the airport, passengers work to rebook alternative flights
Reporting from Reagan National Airport
Hours after the collision over the Potomac River, at least one terminal at Reagan National Airport was calm and quiet.
Few people were seen, some passengers working to rebook flights for the morning.
At the baggage claim carousel, a screen with a bright red banner declared “Emergency alert” and noted that all flights were being halted. Customers were encouraged to check with their flight representatives.
Outside the terminal, about 20 people lined up for cabs.
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Air traffic right-of-way at Reagan National Airport explained
The plane that was coming in to land at Reagan Airport before it crashed was approaching a shorter runway than the airport’s notoriously busy main runway.
The regional jet was coming in to land at Runway 33, from the south, when it collided with a military helicopter and crashed.
The video that appears to show the midair collision would appear to show the helicopter coming up from behind as the plane was on approach. Questions will be raised about air traffic control and communication and whether the pilots saw each other and had proper awareness.
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Helicopter was on a training flight, military official says
The helicopter involved in tonight’s crash near Reagan Airport was participating in a training flight, a military official told NBC News.
“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir during a training flight,” the official said, adding that the military was working with local officials and would provide more details once they’re available.
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DCA is closed until at least 5 a.m., FAA says
Reagan Washington National Airport is closed until at least 5 a.m., according to the FAA website.
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Reagan Airport has ‘busiest runway in America,’ airport authority president says
The main runway at Reagan Airport is used for 90% of flights and has been called “the busiest runway in America,” with over 800 daily takeoffs and landings, according to the local airports authority.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority president said in 2023, in advocating against proposed additional flights there, that the airport “operates at full capacity.”
The authority said that the airport has a restricted corridor for takeoffs and landings and that “pilots routinely rate DCA among the nation’s most challenging,” with spacing needed to maintain safety.
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Helicopter was on routine flight, officials say
The helicopter was on a routine flight, according to a defense official and an Army official.
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NBC Washington describes the area where an American Airlines regional jet and a Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Reagan National Airport just outside Washington.
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FBI aiding response to crash
The FBI is assisting local agencies, it said tonight.
“The FBI Washington Field Office’s National Capital Response Squad is responding to an aviation incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in support of our law enforcement and public safety partners,” the Washington field office said in a statement.
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‘Like a giant Roman candle’: Eyewitness gives account of crash
An eyewitness who was driving home near the airport gave an account of what he saw at the time of the crash.
“You can always see these planes lined up to land. I always look at them when I’m driving home because it’s just a really interesting, kind of an elegant sight,” Ari Schulman told NBC Washington, adding that he was driving along the George Washington Parkway, which runs right by the airport.
Schulman said he saw what looked like a plane roughly 120 to 150 feet in the air preparing to land but then looked back moments later and saw that “it looked very, very wrong.”
“It looked to me like a giant Roman candle, sparks shooting from the head of the plane down to the tail. I saw that for about two seconds,” Schulman said, adding that he initially wondered whether he had hallucinated the crash, but then he began seeing emergency vehicles.
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64 passengers and crew on jet that crashed, American Airlines says
There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the plane that crashed after a midair collision near Reagan Airport, American Airlines said.
“Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts,” the airline said in a statement.
American Eagle Flight 5342 was approaching the Washington, D.C., area airport when it collided with a helicopter around 9 p.m., officials said.
The flight, operated by PSA Airlines, was en route from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. The plane is a CRJ-700, American Airlines said.
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Tammy Duckworth describes ‘pretty good visibility’ inside Black Hawk
The Black Hawk helicopter isn’t equipped with an alert system like a commercial airliner would be — but it does have superior visibility that could have helped a crew see an oncoming threat, said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
Windows above, below and to both sides of the crew give Black Hawk pilots near-panoramic visibility that’s far superior to that of a big jet, Duckworth said on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.”
“So you can actually have pretty good visibility. So it is quite surprising that you can have this happening,” said Duckworth, an Army veteran and former Black Hawk pilot.
She said it’s far too early to draw any conclusions.
“This airspace is very, very, very busy, and we’re praying … that there are more survivors,” she said.
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Army says Black Hawk was operating out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia
The Army confirmed tonight that the helicopter involved in the collision was a Black Hawk.
“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia,” it said in a statement. “We are working with local officials and will provide additional information once it becomes available.”
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Firefighters union head: Crews ‘doing everything they can to bring survivors to safety’
The president of the International Association of Fire Fighters union said that its prayers are with everyone involved and that firefighter dive teams are doing all they can to find survivors.
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‘May God Bless their souls,’ Trump says in statement
President Donald Trump said in a statement tonight that he has been briefed on the “terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport.”
“May God Bless their souls,” he said in the statement White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X.
Trump thanked first responders and said he would “provide more details as they arise.”
The post Army helicopter, commercial jet collide over Potomac River appeared first on NBC News.