Max discusses the tragic midair collision at Reagan National Airport between a PSA Airlines CRJ700 regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The midair crash over the Potomac River was captured by a Kennedy Center webcam.
The accident, captured by a Kennedy Center webcam, showed the aircraft’s lights merging before a fiery explosion over the Potomac River. Initial reports mistakenly suggested that a jet had overrun the runway and entered the water, but later evidence confirmed the midair collision.
To analyze the event, Max reviews ATC audio and flight tracks from ADSBExchange. While the full accident report will take time, early indicators suggest that the Army helicopter failed to follow ATC instructions to pass behind the regional jet before landing on Runway 33. Instead, it ended up in the same airspace as the descending airliner, leading to the collision. Midair accidents involving airliners are extremely rare, but when they do occur, they often result in regulatory changes.
Trescott draws historical parallels to the 1978 PSA Flight 182 collision over San Diego, which led to the creation of Class B airspace and Mode C transponder requirements. He notes the irony that the involved airline, PSA Airlines, shares a name with the defunct carrier from the San Diego crash but is now a subsidiary of American Airlines.
Flight 5342 was on the Mount Vernon Visual Approach to Runway 01, following the Potomac River. The Black Hawk helicopter, PAT25, was also navigating along the river but from the northwest, flying erratically between 200 and 800 feet before leveling at 300 feet near the airport. The regional jet, descending steadily, turned northeast before crossing the river to land on Runway 33 at around 330 feet MSL.
The midair impact occurred about 0.4 nautical miles from the runway, with Flight 5342 traveling at 106 knots and the Black Hawk at 71 knots. At 12 seconds before impact, the two aircraft were on a near head-on collision course, just 0.6 nautical miles apart. ADSBExchange reported that the helicopter was not transmitting ADS-B Out, a requirement in Class B airspace (though military exemptions may apply). Instead, its position was tracked through multilateration from Mode S transponders. This means the helicopter likely appeared on the airline crew’s traffic display, but they might have relied on TCAS alerts instead—unfortunately, those alerts are inhibited at low altitudes.
According to FAA Advisory Circular AC 20-151A, TCAS alerts are suppressed below 900 feet AGL while descending, and below 400 feet, all aural and visual traffic advisories (TAs) are completely disabled. The crash occurred at around 330 feet MSL, meaning Flight 5342’s TCAS system did not warn the pilots of the impending collision.
Max then plays ATC recordings, highlighting crucial moments in the last few minutes. The tower instructed the Army helicopter to maintain visual separation from the airliner, but it appears the crew misidentified the aircraft they were supposed to follow. This raises the possibility of nighttime perception errors, where pilots can see another aircraft’s lights but struggle to judge its position and motion due to lack of depth perception, relative motion cues, and the autokinesis effect.
Trescott shares his own experience from a similar situation while landing a Vision Jet at night. Despite ATC’s assurances that a following aircraft had him in sight, his traffic display showed a collision course. Only after he insisted did the controller order the other aircraft to widen its approach.
The episode also references Prof. James Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model, which explains how multiple layers of defense exist in aviation, but sometimes the holes in each layer align, leading to an accident. In this case, multiple failures occurred:
- The Army crew did not follow ATC instructions.
- Both crews failed to see and avoid each other.
- The helicopter was not transmitting ADS-B Out.
- TCAS alerts were inhibited due to low altitude.
- The tower did not warn the airliner about the helicopter.
- A reported FAA radar screen showed collision alerts 30 seconds before impact, but no action was taken.
There will be extensive investigations, regulatory discussions, and likely new safety measures to prevent similar accidents. Max encourages pilots to use all available tools, including traffic displays with relative vectors, to enhance situational awareness—especially at night when visual perception is limited.
Listeners interested in learning more about midair collision avoidance are directed to episode 109 of Aviation News Talk. The episode closes with a reminder to always fly defensively and proactively avoid conflicts in the air.
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