A new report by The New York Times has unveiled shocking details about the midair collision over the Potomac River that resulted in the deaths of 67 people.
Helicopters over the Potomac River near Daingerfield Island in Alexandria, Virginia, on Jan. 30, 2025, as crews search for answers hours following a deadly mid-air crash between an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport.
has unveiled shocking details about the midair collision over the Potomac River that resulted in the deaths of 67 people. The investigation highlights several factors contributing to the tragedy, including pilot error and air traffic control issues. For months, scrutiny has focused on the Blackhawk helicopter's altitude, which was directly in the path of the jet as it was landing. However, the Times report reveals that moments before the collision, the pilot may have missed a crucial instruction from her co-pilot to change course. The report also indicates that some instructions from the control tower were "stepped on," meaning they were cut off when a helicopter crew member pressed the microphone to speak, potentially missing critical information. "You hear a command from air traffic control, and you repeat it back to clarify that you have indeed heard it," aviation expert and WTOP anchor Dan Ronan told 7News. "But if another microphone gets keyed, and in a busy airspace like Washington, D.C., it's not uncommon to have multiple, 7, 8, 9, aircraft on one frequency - someone keys that microphone, and the pilot of the Blackhawk apparently never heard the command from the air traffic controller because the mic or phone got keyed somewhere along the way."Had the Blackhawk helicopter heard that command and been able to understand what they were being told to do, this accident, this crash, might not have ever happened. Another significant finding from the Times investigation is that technology allowing air traffic control to track the Blackhawk in real time, referred to as ADS-B Out, was deliberately shut off to simulate the high-security mission the aircraft was practicing. Experts told the Times that this decision compromised safety. "Since they were simulating taking a high-ranking government official out of Washington, D.C., you don’t want them to know where the helicopter's at or who is on board, clearly, but this wasn’t an actual emergency. This was a training mission," Ronan said. "Had the ADS-B been turned on, it’s very possible that the pilot and the copilot of the American Airlines flight would’ve been able to see what was coming and take evasive action." Another significant issue Ronan points to in the report is that the American Airlines flight was redirected to a different runway on approach due to a crowded airspace, but that put the aircraft on the same path. "Had that aircraft, the American Airlines regional jet, landed on runway one, as it originally been called, this never would’ve happened," Ronan said. Additionally, the report sheds light on air traffic control staffing issues on the night of the collision. It states: At the time of the crash, for reasons that remain murky, a single controller was working both helicopter traffic and commercial runway traffic — jobs that would typically be done by two controllers. 7News has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board for responses to the Times' findings and awaits a response.
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