American Airlines flight number 5342 was slated to arrive at Reagan National Airport (DCA) from Wichita Eisenhower Airport (ICT) just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Instead, it collided mid-air with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter during its final descent.
Video footage taken by rooftop cameras in Washington, D.C., in the moments leading up to the catastrophic collision, shows the two aircraft quickly approaching one another head-on and then a fireball occurring at the point of impact. The latest reports, such as those from CNN, suggest that the force of the collision caused the American Airlines regional passenger plane, operated by PSA Airlines, to split immediately into two. The video of the airplane crash shows the fuselage of the aircraft falling to the ground.
Factors That Contributed To Causing This Crash
The focus on local and federal first responders that have stepped in to help in the aftermath of this crash has been search, rescue, and recovery operations. This is especially the case when the collision occurred; the fuselage of both the military helicopter and the American Airlines plane fell into the frigid Potomac River immediately thereafter. Any potential survivors would only have mere minutes to survive before hypothermia set in or they drowned (depending on their injuries) had they initially survived.
However, as rescue and recovery operations continued, which have yet to yield signs of life among the broken-up plane and disabled helicopter, an investigation into what caused the crash was initiated.
So far, flight investigators have found that it’s likely that the pilot of the military helicopter, which was on a training mission at the time of the mid-air collision, and/or the captain and first officer piloting the American Airlines flight didn’t notice one another and/or had poor communications with the flight control tower when warned about the impending danger they were facing.
Transcripts of communications between flight control and the helicopter show that they asked the helicopter operator to confirm that they saw the aircraft coming at them head-on and there appears to have been no response, but yet moments later, air traffic controllers could see the crash occur on their radar.
Federal law enforcement agencies have ruled out terrorism as being a factor that caused this crash.
Getting Help If You’ve Been Impacted By This Mid-Air Traffic Collision
This mid-air plane crash marks the first major plane crash in years in the U.S. Also, it’s one of the worst that’s ever been seen on the Potomac River. The last time a plane crash as potentially deadly as this one occurred on approach to DCA was in 1982, per the Wall Street Journal.
It’s been reported that the passenger jet was full of many U.S. Figure Skating Team and Russian world champions were on the flight when the crash occurred. However, there were countless others among the 60 passengers and 4 crew not affiliated with the sport that likely lost their lives in this tragic incident.
As a personal injury law firm in Columbia, MO that represents injured clients and the families of deceased loved ones not only here but also in neighboring Kansas, we have experience handing airplane crash cases and other types of accident cases. Tad Thomas himself helped handle the Comair crash in 2007.
Regarding last night’s crash, Tad Thomas, Managing Partner of Thomas Law Offices and an experienced aviation lawyer, had this to say: “While there are still a lot of questions about the crash, this was clearly an avoidable tragedy.”
The Thomas Law Offices team sends our heartfelt condolences to the family members of all those who unfortunately perished in this mid-flight crash. If you were personally impacted by this incident in some way, know that our attorneys are here to advise you of your right to take legal action against any and all responsible parties in this most unfortunate situation. We offer complimentary consultations to discuss your rights with a plane crash lawyer in our office.