Snips from the NY Times updates link below
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-washington-dc?smid=url-share#plane-crash-reagan-airport-washington-dcThe plane's path: Shortly before the crash, the jet's pilots were asked to
pivot their landing route from one runway to another, according to a person briefed on the event and audio
recordings of conversations between an air traffic controller and the pilots.
The pilots: The two
American Airlines pilots had been flying for years. Robert Isom, the airline's chief executive, stressed their experience but provided no additional details. Two Army officials confirmed that the
pilots of the helicopter one woman, one man and a male staff sergeant were killed in the collision.
The duties of handling air traffic control for helicopters and those for planes at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night were combined before the deadly crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, according to a person briefed on the staffing and an internal preliminary F.A.A. safety report.
That left an air traffic controller handling dual roles, according to the person briefed, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation into the crash.
The
military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines regional jet on Wednesday night appears to have been
flying too high and outside its approved flight path at the time of the crash, according to four people briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.
The Army Black Hawk
helicopter was supposed to be flying in a
different location and
lower to the ground as it traversed the busy Reagan National airspace, the people said.
