The search and rescue teams work after the collision of the 5342 flight of American Eagle and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, with the dome of the Capitol in the background, as seen from Virginia, USA. January 30, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
It is still unknown how they collided a black hawk helicopter with the American Airlines plane in a fatal accident on the Potomac River on Wednesday night, but questions are emerging, including the altitude of the military helicopter.
Researchers are still recovering evidence from Potomac and look at everything from freshly removed flight data and cabin voice recorder information. The 64 people in American Airlines Flight 5342 and the three aboard the helicopter were killed in the collision of the fireball near the Reagan National Airport of Washington, DC, which marked the most fatal American plane crash since 2001.
Forty -one bodies have been recovered from the accident site, said Fire Chief and EMS John Donnelly at a press conference on Friday. Of these, 28 have been positively identified.
The Bombardier CRJ-700 airlines of PSA Airlines flew to about 300 feet of final focus on track 33 of Reagan National shortly before 9 pm et on Wednesday when it crashed with the Black Hawk helicopter.
PSA Airlines is one of the American subsidiaries that flies regional routes, flights marketed as an American Eagle.
The work of emergency staff near the accident site, with the United States Capitol in the back Potomac River, the United States, on January 30, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, said the helicopter was on an annual competition training flight.
According to the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration, the helicopters, which regularly cross through and around Washington, between military bases, the pentagon and other places, must fly in the area near the airport to a maximum of 200 feet.
“In DC, it is a kind of unique environment,” said the National Board of Transportation Security Board, Todd Inman, in an informative session on Thursday afternoon. He pointed out that there are areas of helicopters or tracks in Washington. “This was making the track one to four as part of its normal procedure. If you live in DC, you see many helicopters that go to this area. So there is a very well defined system.”
The FAA issued new flight restrictions on Friday around Washington, DC, Reagan National Airport, with some exceptions for medical evacuation and the application's application operations, the agency told NBC News.
The airspace between certain bridges, or zone 1, is currently not active. In zone 4 nearby, helicopters are only allowed to fly south of the Woodrow Wilson bridge.
Airspace is one of the most congested in the country and Reagan National says that its main track is the most busy in the United States.
While the investigation is ongoing, two out of three tracks are closed at the airport due to their proximity to the accident area. Terry Liercke, vice president and airport manager, told the press on Friday that he expects those closures to last approximately one week.
The airport authorities said that more than 100 flights had been canceled on Friday, citing track closures and bad weather.
“As it turns to align with the track, its concentration is on the flight route to quickly reach the track and stop the plane,” said John Cox, a pilot from the withdrawal airline and aviation security consultant.
The NTSB leads the collision research that ended in a fireball. The agency said it is still collecting information and that it is too early to draw conclusions.
“It's not that we don't have information. We have information,” said NTSB president Jennifer Homendy. “We have substantial amounts of information. We need to verify the information. We need to take our time to ensure that it is necessary.”
The NTSB recovered the flight data and voice recorders from the passenger plane cabin. The boxes were taken to NTSB Labs for evaluation, said the agency.
(Editors note: The image contains graphic content) In this brochure of the United States Coast Guard, the Coast Guard investigates the remains of the airplanes in the Potomac River on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles | United States Coast Guard | Brochure | Getty images
President Donald Trump wrote on Friday in Truth Social that the helicopter “was flying too high, by far. It was well above the limit of 200 feet. That is not too complicated to understand, right?”
Hegseth made a similar statement in an informative session of the White House on Thursday.
“Tragically, a mistake was made last night,” he said. “There was some kind of elevation problem that we have immediately begun to investigate at the level of DOD and Army.”
Both statements were unusual following an accident and the early stages of an air accident investigation.
The accident ends a period of decade and a half of air security in the United States, which has not seen a fatal commercial accident since 2009, despite the fact that passenger traffic has increased by more than 25% to the records. That clash caused a large number of more strict pilot training and rest standards.
The shortage of air traffic controllers has been a concern for years, and a series of nearby calls at US airports. They have caused scrutiny of legislators and regulators.
The personnel in Reagan National The night of the accident was not normal due to the amount of traffic and time of day at the night of the accident, according to a preliminary safety report of the FAA on the collision, NBC reported Thursday.
Citing a source, NBC said the airport tower usually has a controller that focuses on helicopter traffic, although FAA guidelines allow this position to be combined with the position of another controller, so a controller controls the aircraft and helicopters. FAA did not respond to a request for comments on the report.
NBC News reported Friday, citing a source familiar with the investigation that a supervisor from the Reagan National Tower let a controller leave his early turn.
