A PSA Bombardier CRJ-700 operating an American Airlines flight had a midair collision with a military helicopter over the Washington DC area.
This accident happened in the evening hours of Wednesday, the 29th of January. This is the first crash of an American-registered commercial aircraft in the United States since Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009.
It involved American Airlines flight AA-5342, departing from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (KICT). Its destination is Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (KDCA).
PSA performs this service daily on behalf of American Airlines, using a CRJ-700 or -900, which typically arrives at Ronald Reagan Airport at approximately 9 PM local time. The airline stated that the aircraft in the accident had 60 passengers and four crew members on board.
PSA CRJ-700 Approach and Crash
According to reports and video on social media, the PSA CRJ-700 had a mid-air collision with a U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 “Blackhawk” helicopter. An Army official stated that there were three crew on board the helicopter, which was operating from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
In a statement, the FAA announced that it will investigate the accident alongside the NTSB. The helicopter had an active Mode-S transponder but was not broadcasting ADS-B information, according to FlightRadar24. All flights in and out of Ronald Reagan Airport stopped after the crash.
Both the helicopter and the PSA CRJ-700 appear to have ended up in the Potomac river. A number of rescue helicopters and other vehicles quickly rushed to the scene.
ADS-B data appears to show the PSA aircraft initially lining up with runway 1 at Ronald Reagan Airport before turning to the right, to make an approach to runway 33. It is not clear if this played any role in this accident.
The PSA aircraft is a Bombardier (now Mitsubishi) CRJ-700 (-701ER) with registration N709PS. It first entered service just over twenty years ago, initially operating flights on behalf of US Airways before the airline merged with American Airlines.
This is a breaking story and will be updated. For updates directly from American Airlines, go HERE
Updates
It has been confirmed that an air traffic controller asked the PSA CRJ-700 flight crew to switch their approach from runway 1 to 33, to ease traffic flow. The collision happened when the CRJ was descending through 200 feet.
The controller also asked a helicopter if they had the CRJ in sight, and the helicopter responded affirmatively. However, there were multiple helicopters in the airspace, and another aircraft was taking off at the same time.
Four hours after the crash, there were still no reports of any survivors among the 64 occupants of the aircraft or the three helicopter crew.
In a newer briefing officials report that the operation is transiting from rescue to recovery, as they no longer expect to find any survivors. The bodies of 27 people have been recovered from the PSA CRJ-700, and one more body from the helicopter.
Additional source: Aviation Herald
3 comments
M E
I’m curious why there presumably wasn’t a TCAS resolution advisory? TCAS also works with Mode-S transponders, no?
Spyros Georgilidakis
TCAS resolution advisories are typically inhibited below a certain altitude (reportedly 1,000 feet). Crews may still get traffic alerts, however.
Dov Kalman
Too many plane crashes recently. Aviation authorities, specifically the FAA have to restructure safety near congested airspace. There have been tremendous upgrades in the aircraft itself, in the last decades, but not many upgrades on ATC.