A 'unfortunate Chain Of Events': Pilots Share Thoughts On Dc Plane Crash

'DCA is a complex airport': Aviation expert on plane crash

An aviation expert explains why Washington National Airport is "complex" to land at following the fatal airplane crash.

• Air traffic control audio suggests the helicopter crew may have misidentified the incoming passenger plane, potentially due to limited visibility and the use of night-vision goggles.
• Some experts and lawmakers have raised concerns about congestion at Reagan National Airport, suggesting it may have contributed to the collision.
• The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and expects to release a preliminary report in approximately 30 days.

There are still plenty of questions on what led to Wednesday night’s deadly mid-air collision between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter, but pilots who spoke to USA TODAY say a misinterpretation between the helicopter and air traffic control and limited visibility may have played roles.

American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, was getting ready to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter around 9 p.m. Officials said there were no survivors, with all 64 people aboard the passenger plane and three soldiers on the helicopter killed.

Investigations are ongoing.  

"We simply don't have all the facts yet, and they won't come out until they get all the black boxes," or data recorders installed on aircraft, said Chris Palmer, a commercial pilot and founder of online ground school Angle of Attack. "We have to be careful about jumping to conclusions."

Air traffic control audio indicates that the helicopter crew was aware – or at least believed they were aware – of the incoming passenger plane flagged by an air traffic controller.  

Per audio from LiveATC.net, a respected source for in-flight recording, Reagan National Airport air traffic control asked the helicopter crew if they had spotted the plane and asked them to pass behind it. The pilot told the control tower that it had the aircraft "in sight.” 

The collision followed seconds later, leading some pilots to speculate that the helicopter crew had misidentified the plane they were supposed to be on the lookout for. 

The helicopter crew “must have been looking at something else, misconstrued what (air traffic control) was saying,” said Laura Einsetler, a commercial pilot for a major U.S. airline and author of the Captain Laura blog.  

“You misidentify, and then the crew takes their eye off things for a few seconds, and that’s all it takes. It's just a really unfortunate chain of events,” added Palmer. “It’s just one of those things that seem like human error.”  

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the helicopter crew had been carrying night-vision goggles. Einsetler said these can reduce visual depth perception, although vision may have been difficult even without the goggles at that altitude and time of day. 

“At night, your visual acuity goes down. From the perspective of the Black Hawk pilot, the regional jet is going to look dark. The river looks dark. The runway looks dark. There's a lot of city and airport lighting in the background,” she said. “Everything blends in.”  

“To me, it seems they didn’t see the right airplane, and those visual illusions kicked in and they weren’t able to see and avoid the aircraft,” Palmer said.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said the helicopter should have been flying at a different elevation and "should have seen where they were going." 

"What was the helicopter doing in that track? Very sad," Trump said during a White House press briefing. "But visually, somebody should have been able to see and taken that helicopter out of play, and they should have been at a different height." 

It's unclear whether the plane or helicopter were outside their designated airspace. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a ranking member of the U.S. Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, said she would be requesting information on their flight patterns, as previously reported by USA TODAY.

Some have questioned whether congestion at Reagan National Airport – among the busiest airports in the country – played a role in Wednesday's collision.  

Lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia last year had argued that the airspace around the airport was too congested, and voted against a bill that would add more round-trip flights to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The bill was signed into law in May. 

In a February statement, four senators called the move a “profoundly reckless decision” that would overburden Reagan National Airport’s runway.

“The Committee is gambling with the safety of everyone who uses this airport,” the letter reads. “Forcing the airport to cram additional flights in its already crowded schedule will further strain its resources at a time when air traffic controllers are overburdened and exhausted, working 10-hour days, six days a week.” 

Einsetler, who said she has flown into Reagan National Airport "many times,” said it is a “very busy airspace” with the military, commercial airlines and corporate aviation operating in and out.  

“As the investigators go forward, there will probably be some rulings made as to how the combination of all those things operate within the same airspace,” she said.  

Robert Clifford, an aviation attorney with experience with commercial airline disasters, said he’s pushing for an immediate halt of military aircraft using the airspace “until they sort this out.” 

“It’s long known within local Washingtonian circles that there’s a lot of congestion at the Reagan airport,” Clifford said. “You have this cross-pollination of use by the commercial operators and the military in an area that’s restricted because it’s right next door to the capital.” 

More details are expected after investigators examine black boxes and conduct witness interviews. Trump said the collision is being investigated by the National Transportation Security Board and the military. NTSB said Thursday it expects to release a preliminary report in about 30 days.

"Today, we embark on a long journey of grief, recovery, and fact-gathering," reads a statement from Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, a pilots' union. "A lot of details and speculation will come out in response to this tragedy, but we must remember to let the investigation run its course."