Air traffic control audio as passenger jet collides with Army helicopter at Reagan Airport near DC
A jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asks the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight: 鈥淧AT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?鈥 The controller makes another radio call to PAT25 moments later: 鈥淧AT-25 pass behind the CRJ.鈥
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One air traffic controller was doing work normally assigned to two people in the tower when the collision happened, according to an FAA report obtained by The Associated Press.
Authorities say everyone aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington is feared dead.
