Near-miss at Washington airport a day before fatal crash

The day before the fatal plane crash at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., a passenger plane was forced to abort its landing to avoid a collision. Just over 24 hours before Wednesday's deadly mid-air collision, another regional jet performing a landing at Reagan Airport executed a go-around after a military helicopter appeared in the same area.

Flight tracking websites and air traffic control recordings show that the Embraer E-175 aircraft was cleared to land on runway 19 and was informed of a helicopter in the vicinity. The aircraft performed a go-around after its automatic collision avoidance system issued a "resolution advisory" to avoid nearby traffic, which took the plane off its normal landing alignment. The plane landed safely a few minutes later. The military helicopter, call sign PAT1, was informed that an aircraft was on approach. Flight tracking websites show that the aircraft was flying about 300 meters above the helicopter, which is a generally acceptable separation.

Airline pilots are trained to immediately respond to resolution advisories, which are designed to prevent potential accidents but can sometimes alert to traffic that would not pose an immediate safety threat. According to CNN, the office of Washington Senator Maria Cantwell stated that one of the flight data recorders, commonly known as a black box, from the crashed CRJ 700 that collided with the military helicopter has been recovered from the Potomac River. It is not clear which of the two black boxes that has been recovered.

The estimated death toll stands at 67, with more than 40 bodies having been recovered from the water. It is believed there are no survivors of the crash. There were three military personnel on board the helicopter when the aircraft plunged into the Potomac River before 8:50 pm Wednesday (1:50 pm Thursday AEST). Officials said the soldiers’ remains will be sent to the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. That office coordinates the dignified transfer of fallen service members. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been publicly released.

According to CNN, an air traffic control source said that one air traffic controller was operating two different tower positions at the time of the collision. The source said that the arrangement, with one person handling both local and helicopter traffic, was not uncommon. The New York Times first reported the detail, saying that an internal Federal Aviation Administration preliminary report showed that staffing was “not consistent with the time of day and traffic volume”. The source said that the Reagan National Airport control tower was staffed at 85 percent capacity, with 24 of 28 positions filled. The National Transportation Safety Board has just begun its investigation and will examine various potential causes of the collision. It is too early to determine if the staffing at the tower played a role in the incident.

According to Army Aviation Chief of Staff Jonathan Koziol, the crew on the helicopter that collided with the American Airlines plane were "very experienced" and no stranger to the congested flying that occurs daily around the unit or Washington, D.C. “Both pilots had flown that particular route at night. This was nothing new for either of them,” Koziol said. “Even the back-seat crew chief has been with the unit for a long time and very familiar with the area, very familiar with the route structure.” The crew, which included an instructor pilot and a pilot-in-command, were so experienced that any of them “could have managed that helicopter on their own.” Koziol said the instructor pilot, who was the pilot-in-command, had about 1000 hours of flight time. The instructor pilot was evaluating the second pilot, who was also pilot-in-command qualified, on the training flight that evening, and the pilot being evaluated had about 500 hours of flight time, Koziol said.

Shortly after sunrise on Thursday morning (late Thursday AEST), Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly said the rescue effort had transitioned to a recovery operation. “At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors of this incident, and we have recovered 27 individuals from the aircraft and one individual from the helicopter,” he said. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said it was not yet clear why the two aircraft collided. “I want to express my sincere condolences regarding the incident that occurred last night at DCA,” he said. “Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew, as well as those on board the military aircraft.”

US President Donald Trump spoke from the White House briefing room on Thursday (Friday morning AEST), about five kilometres from the site of the fatal crash. “As a nation, we grieve for every precious soul who was suddenly taken from us,” Trump said. “Tragically, there were no survivors of this crash,” he said. Trump said it was not yet clear what caused the crash. He said the US military and the National Transportation Safety Board were conducting an investigation. “We will find out how this disaster happened and will ensure that such an incident never happens again,” he said. Without evidence, Trump blamed air traffic controllers, helicopter pilots, and Democratic policies at federal agencies. He also lashed out at the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming its diversity efforts had made air travel less safe.

New York State Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s spreading of conspiracy theories about the plane crash was “disgusting”. “It’s one thing for internet commentators to spread conspiracy theories, it’s another for the President of the United States to do so,” Schumer said at the Capitol. Schumer’s remarks appeared to target statements made by Trump on Thursday. After observing a moment of silence for the victims of the crash, Trump spent most of his time at the podium shifting political blame. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also called Trump’s criticisms “despicable”, after the US President harshly criticised Buttigieg, even using vulgar language to condemn his alleged Democratic-led efforts to push diversity at federal agencies. “When families are grieving, Trump should lead, not lie,” former Buttigieg posted on X shortly after Trump’s White House briefing. He pointed out that while he led the agency, “there were zero commercial airline crashes in millions of flights during our tenure”. Trump said Buttigieg “destroyed it through his diversity” at the Department of Transportation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to reporters that Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among the 64 people on board the United Airlines flight. They were the pairs champions at the 1994 world championships and two-time Winter Olympians. “Unfortunately, we see that this sad news is being confirmed. There were other compatriots there. The news from Washington today is depressing,” he said. “We are sorry and express our condolences to the families and friends of our compatriots who died in the plane crash.” He did not say how many had died. Shishkova and Naumov were listed as professional pairs coaches on the Skating Club of Boston’s website. Their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater in the United States. US Figure Skating said the passengers included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members returning from a development camp after the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. “We are shocked by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families close to our hearts,” the organization said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.” US pairs skater Luke Wang said the news was “absolutely heartbreaking” and ice dancer Ethan Peal said he was “in shock”. The international figure skating governing body said the global skating community was “shocked” and “heartbroken” to learn that figure skaters and their loved ones were on board the flight. “Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport, it is a close-knit family and we stand together,” the International Skating Union said in a statement.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the plane was found upside down in waist-deep shallow water, broken into three distinct sections. Duffy said “everything was normal” on the clear night before the crash and the combination of commercial and military aircraft sharing similar airspace was “not uncommon”. “If you live in Washington, D.C., you see helicopters going back and forth over the river,” he said. “This type of flying pattern is very common when you live in Washington, D.C. and the flying pattern last night was also standard.” “The American Airlines flight, as it was landing, was also in a standard flying pattern for approach into DCA.” When asked about Trump’s suggestion in a late-night social media post that the collision was avoidable, Duffy said, “Do I think it was avoidable? Absolutely.” Duffy also said passengers should be “assured” that flying was safe. “We have a preliminary understanding of what occurred here and I can tell everyone with confidence that we have the safest airspace in the world,” he said. If no one survived, it would be the deadliest US air disaster since November 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed into a residential neighborhood in Belle Harbor, New York shortly after taking off from JFK Airport, killing all 260 people on board.

Three US Army personnel were on board a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter when it collided with a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which was flying to the city from Wichita, Kansas, before 9 pm Wednesday (2 pm Thursday AEST). According to a US Department of Defence official, the helicopter was on a training flight and was not carrying any VIPs. Hundreds of rescue workers continued searching the frigid waters of the Potomac River before dawn on Thursday (Thursday night AEST). Images showed boats around a partially submerged wing and pieces of what appeared to be the aircraft’s fuselage. Helicopters hovered over the murky water, powerful searchlights scanning the turbid surface, while emergency vehicles illuminated a long line of flashing red lights along the banks of the Potomac River. The water temperature was just above freezing. Hypothermia begins when the body’s core temperature drops to 35 degrees, and in such cold water, that process can begin in moments. Federal Aviation Administration investigators will join the investigation into the crash, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board. Ronald Reagan National Airport was scheduled to reopen at 11 am (3 am Friday AEST).