Audio recordings of air traffic controllers' conversations captured the moments before and after the crash of an American Airlines passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk military helicopter. The aircraft collided in the air over Washington on the night of January 30.
This was reported by Reuters , UNN and UNN.
According to LiveATC.net, a well-known resource for recording radio conversations, the last words of the PAT25 helicopter crew were recorded before it collided with a Bombardier CRJ700 carrying 64 passengers and crew. At 20:47 (Eastern Time) on Wednesday (01:47 Kyiv time on Thursday), the controller contacted the PAT25 crew:
PAT25, do you see the CRJ? PAT25, go around the CRJ behind you.” A few seconds later, another pilot contacted the controller: ”Tower, did you see that?
The controllers immediately rerouted the planes coming in for landing on runway 33 at Reagan Airport.
The collision occurred over a frozen river
Potomac River near the airport. In the audio recording, controllers can be heard discussing the crash: “Crash, crash, crash, third alarm”.
Another dispatcher added:
“I don't know if you realized what happened, but there was a collision on approach to runway 33. We are going to stop working indefinitely.”
Another controller confirmed that both aircraft had fallen into the river.
“Both the helicopter and the airplane fell into the river,” he said.
The moment of the accident was caught on video. The crash was captured by a webcam installed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. The recording shows the plane bursting into flames and falling to the ground after a collision with a helicopter.
It happened approximately in the middle of the river. I saw a fireball and then everything disappeared. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter
U.S. officials confirmed that there were no high-ranking military officials on board the Black Hawk.
Among the 64 people on board were figure skaters from Russia
The U.S. Figure Skating Federation (U.S. Figure Skating) reported that the plane was carrying skaters returning from a junior training camp that took place after the national championships in Wichita, Kansas, last weekend.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the passengers included Russian figure skaters and other Russian citizens.
American skater-athlete John Maravilla said in a commentary to a Russian news agency that there were about 14 skaters on board, not including their parents and coaches.
However, he refused to name names. The US Federation has not yet confirmed the number of its athletes on board. Russian media reported that three former Russian figure skaters were on the plane.
Recall
In the United States, a plane crashed near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia .
As it became known later, an American Airlines passenger plane and a UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter collided in the air, after which both aircraft fell into the Potomac River.
According to CBS News, at least 18 bodies have been recovered. American Airlines confirmed that there were 64 people on board the passenger plane, including 60 passengers and four crew members.