UPDATE 2 | Thursday, January 30, 2025, 2145 PT
Firefighters, divers, police officers, and other “designated” Officials were busy throughout Wednesday night after a mid-air collision. It appears an Army Black Hawk Helicopter with a crew of three collided with a commercial airplane (similar to a Dash 8 in size) last night.
The American Airlines (American Eagle is a subsidiary of AA/parent company) flight was traveling from Wichita, Kansas to WA DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. According to AA’s CEO Robert Isom who released an Official statement, states there were a total of four crew with 60 passengers with a total of 64 souls on board.
Here is what multiple sources are saying:
- Normally two people are in the control tower with one monitoring helicopters and the other planes.
- At the time of the crash, one air controller was handling both.
- The Army helicopter was said to be flying at an altitude of 350 feet when it should have been at the max height of 200 feet.
- The pilot was told to land on a different runway than it was originally given to land on.
- The helicopter has said it flew into the plane of the commercial airliner.
- A near miss the day before from a helicopter flying into a commercial airliner is averted due to them going around at the same airport. They had to abort its landing.
- There were no survivors from either aircraft that plunged into the Potomac River.
- The weather had dipped below an icy 30 degrees and I am assuming the water’s temp would have been much cooler.
- Some aviation commentators are saying this is the worst aviation accident in fifteen years.
Our sincere sympathies to the Army families and fellow personnel, to the families, friends, and communities who lost loved ones on the regional jetliner. We also send our sincere and heartfelt love, thoughts, and prayers to all First Responders who were part of the rescue and recovery efforts.
Governor Laura Kelly on Thursday, that all flags fly half-stay immediately until sundown on February 6, 2025, in honor of those who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash near WA DC. This is for the State of Kansas.
(c) 2025 NW FIRE BLOG
