Air traffic controller saw 'fireball' when American Airlines jet collided near Reagan Airport: Audio
Courtesy: AFP
Audio recordings from Air Traffic Control capture the moment officials reported the devastating mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Blackhawk military helicopter.
“It was probably out in the middle river. I just saw a fireball and then it was gone,” the air traffic controller can be heard on audio shared on X.
ATC: "I just saw a fireball & then it was just gone."
pic.twitter.com/JdeevacrXJ“I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was CRJ and a helicopter that hit, I would say, maybe a half mile off the approach into 33,” the controller says in a call to Fire Command.
The controller reported that the commercial flight, which was carrying 60 passengers from Wichita, Kansas, was scheduled to land on runway 33 at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport when the crash occurred just minutes before landing.
Emergency responders are conducting an urgent search for survivors following the mid-air collision between a military helicopter and a commercial aircraft near Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia on Wednesday night, according to officials.
The American Airlines jet, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with the military helicopter while approaching Runway 33 at the D.C. airport around 9 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom stated on Wednesday that the company is “cooperating fully” with federal authorities in the investigation into the crash of CG 700 aircraft near Reagan National Airport.