A tragic mid-air collision occurred over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., involving American Eagle Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. Here’s a detailed timeline of the events leading up to and following the accident:

January 29, 2025,

• 5:38 p.m. CT – American Airlines Flight 5342 departs from Wichita, Kansas, en route to a D.C.-area airport with 60 passengers and four crew members. The flight is scheduled to land at 9:03 p.m. ET.
• 8:46 p.m. the airline pilots received a 1000-foot automated warning
• 8:47 p.m. The airline pilot received 500-foot automated warning as they approached the landing strip.
• 8:47 p.m. ET – A DCA air traffic controller instructs the Black Hawk pilot to pass behind the CRJ aircraft. The pilot confirms visual separation.
• 8:47:58 p.m. ET – The Black Hawk helicopter makes its last transmission.
• 8:48:01 p.m. ET – The American Airlines flight makes its last transmission.

As American Airlines flight 5342 approaches DCA, it contacts air traffic control about landing on Runway 1. Controllers ask the pilots to use Runway 33 instead. The pilots confirm the change and the aircraft is cleared to land.

AA Flight 5342: “Tower, Bluestreak 5342 on Mount Vernon visual, Runway 1”

Air Traffic Control: “Bluestreak 5342 Washington Tower [unintelligible] 320 at 17, gusts 25, Can you take Runway 33?”

Several other instructions are heard, and then:

AA Flight 5342: “Yeah, we can do 33 for Bluestreak 5342.”

Air Traffic Control: “Can confirm Runway 33, Runway 33 cleared to land …”

• 8:48 p.m., the crew had a reaction in the cockpit of the CRJ jet and the flight recorder data showed an increase in pitch, sounds of impact, and the recording stopped.
• 8:48 p.m. ET –D.C. Fire and EMS receive an alert of an aircraft crash into the Potomac River near Reagan International Airport, triggering a large emergency response.
• EarthCam footage from the Kennedy Center captures an explosion in the air.
• 8:51 p.m. ET – Departures to Reagan National Airport (DCA) are grounded due to an aircraft emergency.
• 8:55 p.m. ET – DCA closes. The U.S. Coast Guard command center in Maryland receives a report of the collision. Boat crews are deployed for search-and-rescue operations.
• 8:58 p.m. ET – First responders arrive at the crash site. Hundreds of emergency personnel from multiple agencies search for survivors.

Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025

Early Morning:

• At a press briefing, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly announces that no survivors are expected.
  The operation transitions from rescue to recovery. So far, 28 bodies have been recovered—27 from the plane and one from the Black Hawk.
• 11:00 a.m. ET – DCA reopens, with flights resuming.
• The NTSB confirmed it has recovered the Flight data recorder and Cockpit voice recorder from the CRJ-700. The recorders will be taken to the NTSB recorder lab for analysis.

Afternoon:

Dive teams cease operations in the Potomac River after recovering all bodies possible without moving the fuselage.
Around 40 bodies have been recovered, including at least one soldier from the Army helicopter.

The Army has confirmed that all three soldiers were from Bravo Company, 12th Combat Aviation Battalion, based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C. The unit primarily transports senior U.S. military officials around Washington and beyond.

Jonathan Koziol has been attached to the Unified Command Post created at Reagan National Airport to coordinate efforts following the deadly collision. Jonathan Koziol is a retired Army chief warrant officer with over 30 years of experience flying Army helicopters. Koziol confirmed:

• male instructor pilot had more than 1,000 hours of flight time,
• the female pilot who was commanding the flight at the time had 450 hours of flight time,
• crew chief was also said to have hundreds of hours of flight time.

January 30, 2025 NTSB Breefing

January 31, 2025

Identified: Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Ga., and Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Md.

Ryan O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, from Great Mills, Maryland, died in the crash. According to Army official Jonathan Koziol, eaves was the instructor pilot on board and had about 1,000 flight hours.

The H-60 helicopter has a single, combined flight data recorder and voice recorder. The NTSB reports that it has been recovered and taken to the NTSB lab in good condition.

The NTSB provided an update on the status of the data recorders from both aircraft.

• The CRJ-700’s flight data recorder has been examined and the NTSB has a “high level of confidence” the FDR is readable.
• The CRJ’s cockpit voice recorder showed evidence of water intrusion. This is not unusual in these circumstances and the NTSB’s recorder lab has take steps to ensure the CVR is also readable.

January 31, 2025 NTSB Update

February 1, 2025

The U.S. Army has now identified the Second Pilot of the H-60 “Black Hawk” Helicopter that collided with a CRJ-700 Passenger Jet on Wednesday at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, resulting in 67 Deaths, as Captain Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina. In addition to serving as an Army Helicopter Pilot, Captain Lobach also served as an Aide at the White House for Special Ceremonies and Events, with her seen here escorting Ralph Lauren last month, when he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.

The NTSB provided additional updates today on information recovered from the CRJ’s flight data recorder, the condition of the H-60’s recorder, and the status of the air traffic controllers in the DCA tower.

• FDR data indicates the CRJ was at 325 feet ± 25 feet, this is ADS-B data combined with FDR data. Altitude reported by NTSB is corrected altitude data.
• Initial data indicates the altitude seen by the air traffic controller on the radar scope showed the aircraft at 200 feet. The NTSB hopes to verify that altitude by February 2, 2025 The data shown on the radar scope is lower fidelity.
• The H-60 helicopter’s recorder shows evidence of water intrusion, the NTSB is drying the recording before retrieving data. It hopes to do this tomorrow.
• The FDR from the CRJ has been downloaded. It contains about 400 parameters.

The CRJ’s cockpit voice recorder has now been downloaded and read out. All times listed in Eastern Standard Time

• 20:45:27: CRJ Autopilot off
• 20:46:01: ATC makes PAT25 aware of CRJ south of the Wilson Bridge
• 20:46:29: 1000’ call out on CRJ
• 20:47:29: 500’ call out on CRJ
• 20:47:39: ATC asks if PAT25 has the CRJ in sight
• 20:47:40: TRAFFIC TRAFFIC aural alert sounds
• 20:47:42: DCA Tower directs PAT25 to pass behind the CRJ
• 20:47:58: CRJ crew has verbal reaction and airplane begins to increase its pitch
• 20:47:59: Sounds of impact

There were 5 air traffic controllers in the DCA tower at the time of the accident 1 Local controller working fixed wing and helicopter traffice 1 Ground controller 1 local assistant controller 1 Supervisor 1 Supervisor in training

February 1, 2025 NTSB Media Update