ATC Communications Between Jet, Army Black Hawk Face Scrutiny in D.C. Midair

Accident raises questions about what role radio frequencies may have played in pilot awareness of other aircraft.

Meg Godlewski

Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 04:08 PM ET

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Edited By: tccjeremy

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport [FLYING file photo]

Key Takeaways:

A midair collision between an American Eagle CRJ-700 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport resulted in no expected survivors.
Investigators are scrutinizing air traffic control (ATC) audio and the complex D.C. airspace, including how disparate radio frequencies (UHF for military, VHF for civilian) might have impacted communication awareness.
The D.C. area utilizes designated low-altitude helicopter routes and separate radio frequencies, which civilian airliners typically do not monitor, potentially creating a lack of awareness of nearby helicopter traffic.
A video of the collision suggests that despite an ATC instruction to pass behind the regional jet, the helicopter pilot may have misidentified the specific aircraft, leading to the collision.

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Accident Investigators trying to determine the cause of Wednesday night’s midair collision between an American Eagle CRJ-700 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) are scrutinizing, among other things, the audio communication between air traffic control (ATC) and the accident aircraft.

On board the American Eagle Flight 5342 were 60 passengers and four crew en route from Wichita, Kansas, to KDCA. The helicopter, which was based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, had three service members on board and was on a training mission. Officials said no survivors are expected to be found.