AA5342 Down DCA

[MichaelKPIT]

Originally Posted by DC Meatloaf

Just a quick screen cap from the adsbexchange.com site at the time of the collision. I don't know if it's meaningful but the reported altitudes on the site shows a 200' difference in altitude between the aircraft.

I don’t know how accurate this is but the CNN analyst is saying that horizontally they’d have been ok. The helicopter path is beneath the published approach and should not have been a problem, but it looks like the helicopter was too high…

[pattern_is_full]

Newest CNN report quotes Army as saying 3 crew on the Blackhawk, no passengers.

Suggestion (unconfirmed) of some wreckage (type/aircraft undefined) found on land, not river. But the Potomac is not all that wide at that point. Possible for an aircraft (either type) spiralling down, to hit the shore.

Potomac water temperature reported as 42°F/5°C. Open to revision, of course.

Nothing reported so far that directly contradicts any of the previous posts.

[nomess]

According to reports ATC asked if they had the RJ in sight which they confirmed. Seems like they had something else.

Did they hit the shoreline? Seems to be a large operation closer to the shoreline not in the middle of the river.

[wdew]

[BFSGrad]

Originally Posted by pattern_is_full

Potomac water temperature reported as 42°F/5°C. Open to revision, of course.

A week ago, a truck ran off the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which is upriver from DCA. That rescue/recovery effort was complicated by river ice. Even if no visible ice at DCA, the Potomac is frigid.

[MitrePeak]

Video of collision

Originally Posted by Anti Skid On

News coming in of an incident with an American Eagle CRJ operating AA5342 colliding with a military Sikorsky over Washington
Plane crashes near Washington DC after mid-air collision with military helicopter – follow live
Flightradar24 snot showing anything of note.

Update - everything grounded at Reagan International and Helicopters searching over the Potomac

Video of collision..

Passenger jet collides with helicopter while landing at Reagan Washington National Airport, FAA says

[Anti Skid On]

On Flightradar the chopper activity is right at that spot; given both were at about 350ft, they both must be in the river. Divers are now in the water.

Doesn't sound great for those on board. Begs the question why was the Blackhawk passing through the approach to 33?

[WillowRun 6-3]

CNN reporting generally ATC transmission in which another flight stated that it had witnessed the collision. Will be valuable information for investigation.

Dumbfounded by midair in this airspace.

[MichaelKPIT]

BBC reporting that the CRJ has split in two and is in the Potomac. CNN saying that part of it is fully submerged & divers are on scene.

[island_airphoto]

Originally Posted by BFSGrad

A week ago, a truck ran off the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which is upriver from DCA. That rescue/recovery effort was complicated by river ice. Even if no visible ice at DCA, the Potomac is frigid.

The AIR might be 42 degrees, last week was very cold, I would be amazed if the river was that warm seeing how much ice was in it.

[Cloud Cutter]

This could well be an example of why visual separation at night is not a good idea.

[island_airphoto]

Originally Posted by WillowRun 6-3

CNN reporting generally ATC transmission in which another flight stated that it had witnessed the collision. Will be valuable information for investigation.

Dumbfounded by midair in this airspace.

I used to fly out of KVKX just barely outside the Bravo and was over at KDCA a lot. Everything that moves is tracked there, it is beyond belief that this happened where it did. Just FYI and not sure if this is a factor, but if you fly right over a helicopter you get sucked down.

[MichaelKPIT]

Originally Posted by island_airphoto

The AIR might be 42 degrees, last week was very cold, I would be amazed if the river was that warm seeing how much ice was in it.

Agreed. I’m in Pittsburgh (about 40mins flight away) and our rivers are frozen over.

[MLHeliwrench]

CNN just reported that law enforcement has confirmed fatalities have been recovered, and that no survivors have been found yet. The plane is in multiple pieces in the river and the Blackhawk nearby. (This is about 3 hours post incident)

[kap'n krunch]

Originally Posted by MichaelKPIT

BBC reporting that the CRJ has split in two and is in the Potomac. CNN saying that part of it is fully submerged & divers are on scene.

Video appears to show fuselage partially submerged off the end of the runway 33 approach light pier.

[island_airphoto]

They were probably in reception range of the ATIS from DCA on their pad, if not they could just set the pad altitude before they took off. If they are counting on their altimeter to be accurate to the foot to miss traffic something is wrong anyway!

[TWT]

NBC News saying that the water depth in the middle of the Potomac under the collision site is between 3 and 7 feet deep.

[HumbleDeer]

Originally Posted by iggy

This will have implications as in, if a chopper without a transponder can slip in, a nutcase flying a cessna loaded with bangs could have slipped through as well, am I right?

​​​​​​​But with the helicopter having recorded data on that map shown earlier in the thread, that means the helicopter *did* have a transponder.. no? Unless military aircraft are different, I don't see how else that data would be communicated back.

[Chock Puller]

Helicopter Low Level Routes are standardized through out the DC area.

Military Operations are 24/7/365 due to National Security issues.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3851p....,0.268,0.125,0

[visibility3miles]

Originally Posted by MichaelKPIT

Agreed. I’m in Pittsburgh (about 40mins flight away) and our rivers are frozen over.

it has been a lot warmer in DC the last few days. Today it was in the mid-50s F although at the moment it is around 37 F. The river might not have been iced over, but it is still very cold. Cold enough for hypothermia to be a major problem.