WASHINGTON — Dramatic video footage from an EarthCam set up at the Kennedy Center appeared to capture the moment when a regional passenger jet and an Army helicopter collided in a fireball Wednesday night by Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington.
The video shows two sets of aircraft lights converging before erupting in flames over the Potomac River.
The midair collision, which occurred around 9 p.m. EST, involved a regional American Airlines jet arriving from Wichita, Kansas, and a military Blackhawk helicopter, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Moments before the crash, air traffic control audio recorded a controller asking the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” followed shortly by another pilot exclaiming, “Tower did you see that?”
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All takeoffs and landings at Reagan National were immediately suspended as emergency responders launched a massive search-and-rescue operation in the Potomac River.
Helicopters from multiple law enforcement agencies are scanning the area while inflatable rescue boats search the water near the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport.
American Airlines flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder.
The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.