Air Traffic Controller Recordings: Key Moments Surrounding Washington Plane Crash

WASHINGTON—Audio from air traffic control recorded the moments leading up to and following a tragic collision between an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington on Wednesday night.

LiveATC.net, a reputable source of in-flight recordings, captured the last exchanges among the three crew members aboard the helicopter—call sign PAT25—before it struck the CRJ700 Bombardier jet that had 64 passengers and crew members on board.

“PAT25, do you see a CRJ? PAT25, proceed behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller instructed at 8:47 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday (01:47 GMT on Thursday).

Shortly after, another aircraft contacted air traffic control, asking, “Tower, did you witness that?”— seemingly in reference to the collision. In response, the air traffic controller rerouted other planes approaching runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport.

The midair explosion occurred over the icy Potomac River near the airport.

“Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,” one air traffic controller could be heard stating in the audio around the time of the incident.

“I’m not sure if you were aware of what just happened, but there was a crash on the approach to 33. We will be pausing operations for an indefinite period,” another controller remarked.

“Both the helicopter and the plane went down in the river,” a third air traffic controller could be heard saying.

“It likely occurred in the middle of the river,” the controller stated. “I just saw a fireball, and then it vanished. I haven’t witnessed anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that collided.”

The crash was captured on a webcam at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. The footage depicts the aircraft erupting into flames and descending after being struck by the helicopter.

A U.S. official indicated that no senior military personnel were aboard the helicopter, while U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that several skaters were present on the American Airlines flight.

By Kanishka Singh