Traffic control footage shows devastating moment American Airlines plane and helicopter collide mid-air
Traffic control footage of the devastating crash between an American Airlines plane with 60 passengers and four crew with a US army helicopter with three people on board shows the moments leading up to the deadly collision.
There are thought to be no survivors from the terrible crash, with the aircraft appearing to explode in mid-air when they collided.
In the footage the marker moving upwards is the American Airlines passenger plane with 64 people on board, and the marker moving down the screen is the US army helicopter that had three people on board.
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You can see them moving closer and closer together until they collided and disaster strikes.
A few minutes before the plane was due to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC air traffic control staff asked if it could make the landing on a shorter runway and the pilots agreed.
The jet was given clearance to land, while controllers asked the helicopter if it could see the passenger plane and said 'PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ', an instruction for the helicopter to wait for the plane to pass by before continuing.
They received no reply and seconds later the two aircraft collided into each other in a devastating crash.
Wreckage of the aircraft was found in the Potomac River, with the plane found upside down and in three pieces by the recovery operation.
Officials said today (30 January) that they did not expect to find any of the 67 people involved with the crash alive, and that they were 'switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation'.
At least 28 bodies have been found, 27 from the plane and one from the helicopter.
What caused the American Airlines crash?
This is still to be determined, with the black boxes from both the helicopter and plane vital to establishing what was going on in the build up to the fatal collision.
All we know at this stage is that the passenger plane and military helicopter collided as the plane was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to land.
Who was on board the American Airlines flight?
US Figure Skating, which is the American governing body for the sport, has announced that a number of athletes and coaches were on board the fateful flight.
In a statement, it said: "These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."
World champion figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on board the plane, according to Russian state media.
Figure skater Spencer Lane was among those who died, with his father Douglas calling him a 'force of nature' who was 'loved by everyone' in an interview with WPRI.
What has American Airlines said about the crash?
The CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom, issued a response to the incident in Washington DC as he explained he was travelling to DC with a specialist team to aid the investigation.
In a statement, the businessman said: "This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, partners, first responders, along with their families and loved ones.
"I know that there are many questions. At this early stage, I'll not be able to answer all of them, but I do want to share the information I have at this time."
Donald Trump's response
President Trump described the incident as a 'bad situation' that 'should have been prevented'.
"The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport," he wrote on his social media site Truth Social. "The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn.
"Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!! What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!"
Trump called the crash an 'hour of anguish' for the US before going on a baseless tirade against diversity hiring efforts from his predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama, claiming that the Federal Aviation Administration was 'actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative'.
Dispatcher audio of aftermath of American Airlines crash released
Air traffic control audio has since been released from the incident, detailing the harrowing moment dispatchers witness the crash.
"The accident happened in the river. Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river," a man on the audio says.
"It was probably out in the middle of the river. Um, I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river.
"But it was a CR-J [the type of plane] and a helicopter that hit, I would say a half-mile of the approach."
Topics: US News, American Airlines
Joe Harker