What happened minute-by-minute in the deadly D.C. mid-air collision
No survivors after American Airlines jet collided with U.S. army helicopter Wednesday
On Wednesday evening, 60 passengers boarded a commercial flight in Wichita, Kan. Three hours later, they and the crew were all feared dead, in the deadliest U.S. air crash since November 2001.
The American Airlines jet collided in mid-air with a U.S. army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia Wednesday, sending the two aircraft plummeting into the Potomac River.
The plane was carrying 60 passengers — including more than a dozen figure skaters — and four crew members at the time of the crash.
"At this point we don't believe there are any survivors," said DC fire and EMS chief John Donnelly at a Thursday morning news conference. He said responders were switching to a recovery mission.
With no survivors, Reuters reported that the collision is the deadliest U.S. air crash since November 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.
Here's a breakdown of what happened:
5:22 p.m. CT: American Airlines Flight 5342 took off from Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kan., on its way to Washington, D.C., according to flight tracker data. With direct flights from Wichita to D.C. taking a little less than three hours, Flight 5342 was scheduled to arrive at 9:03 p.m. ET, according to the airline.
8:15 p.m. ET: The plane appears to begin its descent, going from 37,000 ft. to 36,000, continuing down from there.
8:39 p.m.: The New York Post reports that the military helicopter takes off for a training exercise out of Fort Belvoir, Va. The Army UH-60 was performing an annual training exercise, according to Military.com
8:40 p.m.: According to the New York Post, the plane begins approaching Runway 33, following a request from air traffic control a few minutes earlier that asked Flight 5342 if it could switch to that runway. Controllers cleared the jet to land there and flight-tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.
8:47 p.m.: Audio from LiveATC.net, a respected source for in-flight recording, captures the final communications between air traffic control and the three crew members of the helicopter — call sign PAT25 — before it collided with the Bombardier jet, called CRJ. They tell the helicopter to pass behind the airplane.
"PAT25, you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," an air traffic controller tells the helicopter crew.
There was no reply from the helicopter. Around the same time, the plane's radio transponder stopped transmitting about 732 metres short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac River.
Also at 8:47 p.m., another aircraft calls in to air traffic control after apparently seeing the crash: "Tower, did you see that?"
8:48 p.m.: The plane's data tracking stops at about 375 feet, according to data from flight tracking site FlightAware. At this time, the control tower also issued an alert of an aircraft crash, DC Fire Chief John A. Donnelly later told a news conference.
"Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three," an air traffic controller can be heard saying in the audio from around the time of the crash.
Around the same time, air traffic control tells other planes bound for Runway 33 to go around. They ask at least one pilot whether they have any search lights on board that could help a rescue crew.
8:53 p.m.: Washington Metro Police begin receiving calls about the crash, according to USA Today.
8:55 p.m.: The airport is closed, according to ABC News.
8:58 p.m.: Emergency responders arrive at the scene of the crash and find an aircraft in the water, DC Fire and EMS chief Donnelly tells a news conference later that evening.
9:09 p.m.: DC Fire and EMS posts about the crash on social media site X saying, "confirmed small aircraft down in Potomac River vicinity Reagan National Airport."
10 p.m.: American Airlines releases a statement confirming Flight 5342 was "involved in an accident." Around the same time, the Federal Aviation Administration posted on X that a "PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in mid-air with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport."
11:16 p.m.: Reuters posts a video showing emergency vehicles and boats deployed at the Potomac River.
12:06 a.m.: U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth writes on X that search and rescue efforts are still ongoing, and that the army and defence department are investigating.
12:53 a.m.: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tells a news conference responders are working diligently on the rescue operation. Donnelly notes that about 300 responders are involved, adding, "The conditions out there are extremely rough."
7:38 a.m.: Donnelly tell a news conference they believe no one survived the crash, and they're switching from a rescue to a recovery operation. He adds they've recovered 27 bodies from the plane and one from the helicopter.
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With files from the Associated Press and Reuters