An estimated 67 people are supposed to be dead after a black Hawkhelicopter collided with a commercial American Airlines Flight Van Wichita, Kansas, over the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on Wednesday evening.
A total of 64 people, including four employees, were aboard Passer American Airlines Flight 5342 and three soldiers were on the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk That came from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
American Airlines -plane, army helicopter clashes outside Reagan National Airport near Washington DC
Here is a timeline of events that leads prior to and immediately after Wednesday evening crash:
January 29
17:18 CST
AA Flight 5342 leaves Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ITC) for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) at 5:18 PM CST, or 6:18 PM EST, according to air traffic control records of Flighttradar24.
January 29 DC Aircraft-Helicopter collision card.
8:39 pm is
Army UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter leaves Fort Belvoir as part of a training exercise. A senior army of the army told Fox News that the soldiers were part of a “reasonably experienced” Black Hawk crew, and they had night vision glasses on board the helicopter.
8:40 pm is
Flight 5342 began to descend in DCA from the south.
8:46 pm
Air traffic controllers ask for flight 5342 to land on runway 33, and pilots acknowledge the order.
ATC Audio:
8:48 pm is
An official of an air traffic control (ATC) asks the Black Hawk (PAT-25) pilot if he can see the commercial plane.
“Do you have the CRJ in sight?” Asks the controller and the helicopter pilot confirms that he sees the passenger plane and asks for ‘visual separation’, which means that he tries to get out of the path of the flight, according to Flighttradar24 Audio.
“Pat-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?” The controller can be heard that he says 30 seconds before the crash to the helicopter pilot.
Moments later, the controller leads a radio call to Pat-25: “Pat-25, pass the crj.”
ATC Audio reveals moment controllers saw a disaster:
8:48 pm is
Army UH-60 and Flight 5342 then collide over the Potomac River, which caught an explosion in a height of about 300 feet on the camera.
Air traffic controllers can be heard and ask: “Have you seen that?”
8:53 pm is
The DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) receives phone calls that report an airplane crash about the Potomac.
MPD, DC Fire and EMS and “Multiple partner agencies” are starting to coordinate a search and rescue operation.
Emergency vehicles internship on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday evening, January 29, 2025 in Arlington, VA. The American Capitol can be seen in the Potomac River in Washington. (Kevin Wolf/AP)
21:00
DCA closes due to an “emergency”.
9:09 pm is
The DC Fire and EMS department places an update on X with the text: “Confirmed small aircraft in Potomac River River River Reagan National Airport. Fire boats on site.”
Rescue workers respond to the scene on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, January 30, 2025, in Arlington, VA. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
10:51 pm is
White House Pers Secretary Karoline Leavitt publishes a statement from President Donald Trump to X.
“I am fully informed about the terrible accident that just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work that is done by our first care providers. I check the situation and will provide more details when they occur: “The explanation is.
(Editors Note: Image contains graphic content) Emergency Response teams, including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others, assess the aircraft wreck in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlingon, Virginia . (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
12:30 pm
DC mayor Muriel Bowser holds a press conference with other law enforcement staff and announces that a passenger plane collided with a military aircraft.
DC Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly Announces that civil servants “found 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter.”
Law enforcement continues their research into the aircraft of the American Airlines that deposited on the Potomac River while it was trying to land on the Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. The flight of the American Airlines from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter while approaching the airport. According to reports, there were no survivors among 67 people on board both aircraft. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty images)
“Despite all these efforts, we are now at a point where we switch from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” says Donnelly.
January 30
8:30 am
Civil servants hold a press conference in Washington, DC and say that all 67 passengers, crew members and soldiers on board both aircraft are assumed to death.
“We are now at the point where we switch from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” says Donnelly during the briefing. “We don’t believe that there are survivors.”
11:00 am
Flights resume landing on DCA; The first plane lands at the airport at 11:02 am
A source of the Ministry of the Interior Security told FOX News Digital on Thursday morning that after the collision there are “no terror problems”, and officials suspect that the crash was “just a tragedy”.
Prior to the fatal collision, there had been a military plane crash in Alaska on Tuesday. Officials said that an American Air Force F-35 fighter jet in Alaska crashed after the pilot managed to cast out safely from the plane.
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There have been at least 238 deaths and 227 injuries arising from non-fighting-end American military aircraft since 2012, according to the FAA.
Since 2023 there have also been several “close call” incidents at DCA.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
