Washington DC midair collision
- Rodriag Symington
- Feb 4
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 27
31st of January 2025
At 8:48 pm on the evening of 29th January 2025, a midair collision occurred between a Bombardier CRJ-701ER registration N709PS, and a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, callsign PAT25. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport (KDCA). All 60 passengers and four crewmembers of the CRJ-701 and the three crewmembers in the Army helicopter, were fatally injured.
PSA Airlines Flight JIA5342 was operating on behalf of American Eagle Flight 5342, a regular scheduled passenger flight from Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (KICT) in Wichita, Kansas, to Ronald Reagan National Airport, DC (DCA) in Washington, DC.
¿What happened?
According to news and social media, the regional airliner with callsign Bluestreak 5342 was flying due north on a visual approach to DCA runway 01 when air traffic control (ATC) asked the crew if they could land instead on runway 33, which the crew accepted; ATC then cleared another CRJ callsign Jazz 789 to take-off with no delay from runway 01. Bluestreak 5342 was instructed to change to runway 33 as it crossed over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and was cleared to land on runway 33. Once over the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Bluestreak 5342 turned to the East and initiated the required circling approach procedure over the East bank of the Potomac River, descending in a left turn to line-up for runway 33.
The Army helicopter callsign PAT25 was on a routine training flight, flying south on helicopter Routes 1 and 4 over the eastern shore of the Potomac River; these helicopter routes have a stipulated maximum allowed altitude of 200 feet between the Lincoln Memorial Bridge and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. ATC informed the crew of the helicopter that there was traffic just south of the Woodrow Bridge, a CRJ at 1200 feet, setting-up for runway 33 and asked if it had the CRJ in sight. The crew of the helicopter confirmed that it had the traffic in sight and requested visual separation, which ATC approved. Later, when the CRJ was turning to final for runway 33 at around 400 feet, ATC again asked the helicopter if they had the CRJ in sight and to pass behind the CRJ, to which the crew replied that they had the aircraft in sight and again requested visual separation. Very shortly after this exchange, the collision occurred at an altitude of approximately 400 feet.
Other possible contributing causes
That a single tower controller was controlling aircraft landing and taking-off from KDCA and also helicopter traffic along Route 1.
That the fixed-wing aircraft and the helicopter were on different radio frequencies: the controller could communicate with both aircraft but the CRJ could not hear the communications with the helicopter and was not informed of the helicopter traffic.
That the helicopter pilots were using night vision goggles, which enhance night vision but limit the field of vision.
That when the two aircraft were in a position to “see and avoid” each other they were travelling head-on with little apparent lateral motion, making it difficult to distinguish their lights from all the other lights in this area.
That the helicopter crew may not have understood that the CRJ was circling over their route to line-up with runway 33 and were instead focussed on another aircraft on approach to runway 01 behind Bluestreak 5342.
That the Terrain and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) on the CRJ would have shown the position of the helicopter on its screen and should have issued a traffic advisory (TA) of a potential conflict to the crew. If the helicopter also had TCAS, this would also apply to the helicopter crew, but resolution advisories (RA) which instruct the aircraft to either climb or descend are inhibited below 1000 feet.
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