Two new videos have been posted showing the collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a PSA/American Airlines passenger plane on approach to Reagan National Airport. The collision caused a fireball and brought the two aircraft down in the Potomac River on the Maryland side, just south of Washington, D.C.
The flight put of Wichita, Kansas had sixty passengers and four crew members while the Army helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia (fifteen miles south of Reagan) had three soldiers aboard. The Army says the crew was on a training mission when the collision occurred. There are no reports of survivors. While no official word has been given, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) at a press briefing indicated the loss of life was total.
The first video to surface is looking south toward the airport from the Kennedy Center in Northwest Washington. The video was posted by independent journalist Alejandro Alvarez:
Webcam at the Kennedy Center caught an explosion mid-air across the Potomac. https://t.co/v75sxitpH6 pic.twitter.com/HInYdhBYs5
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) January 30, 2025
An unsourced video taken from the terminal at Reagan shows the collision:
HORRIFIC FOOTAGE – SEE THE BLACKHAWK COLLIDE WITH THE AMERICA AIRLINES IN D.C.pic.twitter.com/q932tLkZvM
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 30, 2025
A third video, again unsourced (and looped), of the collision:
A recent video footage depicts an American Airlines flight colliding with a Black Hawk helicopter. pic.twitter.com/GWhYdxAJuS
— killmoenetwork (@killmoenetwork) January 30, 2025
A longer version of the Kennedy Center video shows the plane and helicopter on a collision course:
FULL plane/helicopter collide in Washington DC via the Kennedy Center EarthCam. Very strange incident. pic.twitter.com/CtM1JESEaO
— James Pettus (@PettusWX) January 30, 2025
An eyewitness account received by independent reporter Dave Statter, “Basically I was west of the airport on my roof and had a clear view of the regional jet circling onto the final for runway 33. From my perspective it looked like the helicopter crossed directly in front of the jet and there was a very brief fireball and I could hear the aircraft hit the water.”
NEW: Within 10-minutes of the crash STATter911 received a DM from a follower on X who witnessed the mid-air collision. This was before the video came out. It’s from someone I have corresponded with previously who asked to remain anonymous. This is their description of the…
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) January 30, 2025
Early morning press briefing with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Kansas Senators Roger Marshall (R) and Jerry Moran (R):
Sen. Roger Marshall: “When many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow. … It is such a tragedy that we lost them.”
Search and rescue officials have not confirmed deaths at this news conference on the plane-helicopter crash, although there are reportedly fatalities. pic.twitter.com/3AU07kt96f
— The Recount (@therecount) January 30, 2025
US Senator from Kansas Jerry Moran gave an update on the plane-helicopter crash in DC at Reagan National Airport pic.twitter.com/d5Nbx9M93K
— LiveNOW from FOX (@livenowfox) January 30, 2025
Full briefing:
