Chilling moments before, during, and after the deadly mid-air collision between American Airlines jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter captured in a newly released air traffic control audio.
The tragic accident that happened on Wednesday, January 29, and forced the aircrafts to plummet into the icy Potomac River, led to a mission of retrieving the bodies.
On January 31, two days after the tragic crash, the US Army issued a statement on their website. They wrote that the United States Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed “while performing a training mission near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”
The audio captured by the air traffic control revealed an air traffic controller asking the helicopter crew, “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”
Moments later, the controller instructed, “PAT 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”
The Black Hawk helicopter confirmed seeing the American Airlines jet. “PAT 2-5 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation.”
Within 13 seconds, the tower’s audio recorded gasps, including a loud “oooh” as the crash happened. The controller then alerted another pilot of the disaster that unfolded.
“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach end of 3-3. We are going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future if you want to go back to the gate. Highly suggest you guys coordinate with the company. Let me know what you want to do,” the controller stated.
As per the CNN, a pilot who witnessed the collision was recorded telling the air traffic control, “Yeah, we were on short final, and we saw flares from the opposite side of the Potomac.”
An approach controller added, “Apparently both aircraft involved are in the river, a search and rescue will be ongoing.”
Another air traffic controller then redirected all aircraft heading to Runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to go around.
“Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,” the audio shows a controller warnings.
“Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” a third air traffic controller said.
“It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.”
President Trump commented on the American Airlines crash and questioned if it was something that could be “prevented.”
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” he wrote on his social media site Truth Social. “The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time.
“It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
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