THE SIGNS WERE THERE
Bombshell flight radar & chilling takeoff vid reveal haunting precursors to DC jet disaster…so why wasn’t crash avoided?
Investigators are analyzing the black boxes from the plane wreckage
HAUNTING flight radar data shows a plane had a near-miss with a helicopter just a day before the horror American Airlines crash.
Republic Airways Flight 4514 had to make a second approach to the runway at Ronald Reagan Airport as a chopper neared its flight path.
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Audio recordings from air traffic control revealed the close call on Tuesday, the Washington Post reported.
Flight radar data showed the jet was flying in from Connecticut when it had to abort landing at the airport in Washington DC and quickly gain altitude again to avoid the helicopter.
It later landed safely - but is an eerie echo of the disaster on Wednesday night.
In what could be perceived as a chilling precursor to the tragedy, footage showed two helicopters flying close to a plane that had just taken off from the airport.
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Passenger Kyle Salewski shot the clip as his plane left the airport just days before the crash.
He wrote on X: "I thought it was kind of crazy seeing these choppers right next to us.
"I wonder if it was something like this that caused the collision."
The area where planes descend to land at Ronald Reagan Airport has been branded "helicopter alley".
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With several military bases nearby, it is common to see choppers in the sky above the capital.
Footage showed helicopters near planes taking off just days before American Eagle flight 5342 collided with a US Army chopper mid-air.
Complete timeline of mysterious Washington DC air disaster as fatal plane crash baffles experts
Runways at Reagan National also sit very close to the Potomac River, and there are two other airports close by.
Just a day after the near-miss on Tuesday, disaster struck when a passenger plane carrying 64 people hit a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night.
Both aircraft then plummeted into the icy river - killing all on the plane and the three people on the helicopter.
The plane was coming in to land at the airport - and had been told minutes before to head to a different runway.
Shocking CCTV caught the moment the aircraft collided just before 9pm.
Washington DC plane crash victims
A mid-air collision between American Airlines flight 5342 and a military helicopter on January 29, 2025, left dozens presumed dead. The victims include:
- Captain Jonathan Campos, 34
- First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29
- Flight attendant Ian Epstein
- Flight attendant Danashia Brown Elder
- Spencer Lane, 16
- Christine Lane, 49
- Jinna Han, 13
- Jin Han
- Evgenia Shishkova, 52
- Vadim Naumov, 55
- Alexandr Kirsanov
- Angela Yang
- Sean Kay
- Peter Livingston
- Donna Smojice Livingston
- Everly Livingston, 14
- Alydia Livingston, 11
- Inna Volyanskaya
- Asra Hussain Raza, 26
- Michael Stovall, 40
- Jesse Pitcher, 30
- Elizabeth Anne Keys, 33
- Wendy Jo Shaffer
- Kiah Duggins
- Black Hawk crew chief Ryan O'Hara
- Black Hawk soldier Andrew Eaves
- Olivia Ter, 12
- Pergentino Malabed Jr
New Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted the crash was "absolutely" preventable.
Rescue crews worked around the clock in a desperate bid to find survivors.
Authorities later confirmed everyone had been killed.
So far, at least 40 bodies have been pulled from the water.
Extensive recovery efforts are continuing, with the plane's two black boxes yesterday dredged up.
Air traffic control staffing numbers were "not normal", according to an initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report.
The controller who was directing helicopters was also instructing planes on Wednesday night, when these jobs are typically assigned to two people.
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Experts have also said instructions from the operator could have been clearer as the plane came to land at Ronald Reagan Airport.
These could provide vital clues to explain how the crash happened despite it being a "clear night";.
A series of apparent errors have also been pointed to as grieving families of the 67 victims wait for answers.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, one controller asked the helicopter if it could see the plane.
They said: "PAT 2-5, do you have the CRJ in sight?"
The controller made another call to the chopper just moments later, saying: "PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ."
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Moments later, the plane and helicopter collided.
Officials are now scrutinizing a range of factors in what National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Hommendy has called an all-hands-on-deck event.
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