PSA Airlines jet carrying 64 collides with Army helicopter, crashes near D.C.

The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) said two of its members were crewing the flight, but the flight attendants on board were not Dayton-based, a spokeswoman for the union told this newspaper.

PSA Airlines is based in Dayton. But on Wednesday, the company announced that it was moving its headquarters to Charlotte, N.C. gradually, this year and next.

The Air Line Pilots Association said: “We are shocked and saddened by the tragic accident at DCA tonight. Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragedy and ALPA’s accident investigation team is responding to assist the National Transportation Safety Board in their investigation.”

A representative of the pilots association told the Dayton Daily News early Thursday that the union had not yet seen a detailed manifest of the flight, detailing who was on board.

“While we mobilize to support the families and crews directly affected by this incident, we are also sending strength to all first responders doing everything they can to bring survivors to safety,” AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson said.

“Our prayers are with the PSA community, especially the families of the passengers, crew, and military service members who lost their lives in the tragic accident Wednesday night,” a statement from the Dayton Development Coalition said Thursday morning. “PSA is part of our Dayton community, and our heart goes out them.”

Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site.

President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash occurred just before 9 p.m. EST when a military helicopter on a training flight collided with a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was on approach to an airport runway.

It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.

“A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time,” the FAA said.

PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines, which owns PSA. It departed from Wichita, Kansas, the FAA said.

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, manufactured in 2004, can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National, and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter, with three Army soldiers aboard, if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

On X, American Airlines said: “We’re aware of reports that American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, with service from Wichita, Kansas (ICT) to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been involved in an incident. We will provide information as it becomes available.”

Early Thursday, American Airlines said that those who believe they have loved ones on board the flight may call the airline toll-free at 800-679-8215.

Those calling from outside the U.S. can visit news.aa.com for additional phone numbers. Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can call 800-679-8215 directly, American said.

By early Thursday, the PSA Airlines website (www.psaairlines.com) was subsumed into the American Airlines homepage.

The collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. A crew of three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said. The helicopter was on a training flight.

The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said in a social media post that he was “at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation.”

Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of Washington, D.C., Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.

It had been over 15 years since the last fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline. That crash, in 2009 near Buffalo, New York, killed everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused that plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.