Kamal Ghorui
A new footage has emerged showing the exact moment an American Airlines jet collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last year.The video, shared by 60 Minutes captures the mid-air collision with plumes of smoke rising and flames erupting as the two aircraft struck each other.The tragic crash, which occurred on January 29 last year, resulted in 67 fatalities, including 64 passengers and crew aboard the jet and three soldiers on the Black Hawk. The passenger jet, American Airlines Flight 5342, a Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine aircraft, was inbound from Wichita, Kansas and flying at about 400 feet at roughly 140 miles per hour over the Potomac River when the collision happened.On the day of the collision, the Black Hawk helicopter, with the call sign PAT25, was conducting a routine training mission through the restricted airspace near the airport. In the aftermath of the crash, the FAA implemented safety changes, including restricting helicopter traffic near the airport and moving some routes farther from commercial flight paths. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said more than $12 billion has been secured to overhaul the air traffic control system. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford described the collision as a “sobering reminder” of the importance of safety reforms. The crash remains the deadliest mid-air collision in the United States since November 12, 2001.
