There are many people speculating about what happened in the DC crash based on what the media is telling them. There are also many people who have concluded that the crash must be human error or an accident and could not possibly be intentional - either terrorism or sabotage.
I believe that view is based on the human desire to believe the best about people and not easily accept that evil does exist. Sorry, folks, it does.
I prefer to go straight to the NTSB and analyze their press conferences, look at video and timelines and read statements out of the White House instead of letting the media spin influence me. That’s the only way I can come up with an unbiased reasonable explanation.
So, here goes, step-by-step. I will look at what happened and not what the media told me happened. Follow along if you are interested in finding the truth.
This is the latest timeline I could find of the DC crash. The Blackhawk helicopter is called a PAT-25 and the American airlines plane is called a AA5342 CRJ (Canadian Regional Jet.)
PAT-25 is the designation for a Priority Air Transport flight operated by the Department of the Army. Priority Air Transport (PAT) is a United States Army (USAPAT) program that provides executive air transportation for senior military leaders and government officials.
On January 29, 2025, the PAT-25 Blackhawk helicopter flew into the American Airlines CRJ AA5342 aircraft over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport.
Here is the most accurate view of the collision:
https://x.com/PriscillaMirage/status/1885337679161942143
Here is a step-by-step timeline of the DC plane crash based on available information. I will add more detail as it comes available.
January 29, 2025:
6:18 p.m. EST: American Airlines Flight 5342 departs from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ITC) in Kansas, heading towards Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
8:15 PM: The aircraft left 37,000 feet for an initial descent.
8:39:10 PM: Potomac Approach cleared the airplane crew for the Mount Vernon visual runway one approach.
8:43:06 PM: The airplane crew made initial contact with the DCA tower. The tower controller asked if the crew could switch to runway 33.
8:45:27 PM: The autopilot was disconnected.
8:46 p.m. EST: Air traffic controllers instructed Flight 5342 to land on Runway 33, and the pilots acknowledged the instruction.
8:46:01 PM: A radio transmission from the tower was audible, informing PAT-25 (the Black Hawk) that traffic just south of the Wilson Bridge was a CRJ at 1,200 feet circling to runway 33.
8:46:29 PM: The airplane crew received a 1,000-foot automated callout.
8:46:47 PM: DCA Tower cleared other jet traffic on runway 1 for departure with no delay.
8:47 p.m. EST:
ATC: "PAT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?"
This query from ATC was to confirm whether the helicopter pilot could see the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, known as American Airlines Flight 5342, which was on approach to land.
ATC: "PAT-25, pass behind the CRJ."
Here, the controller instructed the helicopter to maneuver to pass behind the jet, indicating an effort to manage the separation between the two aircraft.
Text from helicopter Pilot: "PAT-25 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation."
The helicopter pilot confirmed that they had visual contact with the CRJ700 and requested to maintain visual separation, implying they would manage their own distance and altitude based on seeing the jet. In other words, the text from helicopter said they had it all under control. Right. Earlier, the Blackhawk pilot was advised to return to base 3 times, but didn't.
One second later, the airplane crew received an automated traffic advisory stating "traffic traffic."
8:47:42 PM: A radio transmission from the tower was audible, directing PAT-25 to pass behind the CRJ. No response from PAT-25.
8:47:58 PM: The airplane crew had a verbal reaction, and FDR data showed the airplane beginning to increase its pitch.
8:47:59 PM: Sounds of impact were audible, followed by the end of the recording.
8:48 p.m. EST: The control tower sounds an alarm to alert responders to the crash. The last transmission from both the jet and the helicopter occurs around this time.
8:51 p.m. EST: Departures to DCA are grounded due to the aircraft emergency.
8:53 p.m. EST: Washington Metro police receive calls about the crash.
8:58 p.m. EST: First responders, including DC Fire and EMS, the Metropolitan Police Department, and multiple federal agencies, arrive at the scene to begin coordinating search and rescue efforts.
9:30 p.m. EST: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and law enforcement confirm the aircraft collision and crash.
10:19 p.m. EST: Emergency responders coordinate recovery efforts in the Potomac River.
The FBI announced that there was no indication of terrorism in the DC plane-helicopter collision near Reagan National Airport on January 29, 2025. This was reported by various news outlets and posts on X, with the earliest mention from the FBI's Washington Field Office to NBC News happening on the night of the crash.
10:30 p.m. EST: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators arrive on the scene.
11:07 p.m. EST: American Airlines confirms 60 passengers and four crew members were on the aircraft, with three soldiers aboard the Army helicopter involved in the collision.
January 30 evening: NTSB investigators announce the recovery of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the submerged jet, which were taken for analysis.
The exact takeoff time of the Black Hawk helicopter is not known from the available information. Official reports and statements from defense officials indicate that the helicopter took off from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Posts on X initially claimed the helicopter might have originated from 811 Lawton St, McLean, VA, or near Langley (CIA Headquarters). However, these claims were later refuted by official statements confirming Fort Belvoir as the departure point. In other words, we don’t know for sure where the helicopter actually came from or who was actually on board.
All we know for sure is that it was flying south over the Potomac River, just east of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
The helicopter was likely following Route 4, which is a designated helicopter flight path in the Washington, D.C., area that runs along the eastern side of the Potomac River. They had flown it many many times before.
There are all kinds of trolls on X who are trying to convince people that the helicopter pilots were just confused by the bright lights and mistakenly flew into the plane. Right. They were 1/2 mile off course and 200 feet above restriction and had flown it many times before and refused instruction to turn back.
According to AI, crash warnings come on about 60 seconds before impact. That would have been when they were about 3 miles apart. Three miles and 60 seconds before impact is plenty of time for the helicopter to change course if they wanted to, wouldn't you say?
The Black Hawk helicopter was significantly off its designated flight path when it crashed:
Altitude Deviation: The helicopter was flying at an altitude of approximately 350 to 400 feet, which is well above the mandated 200 feet ceiling for helicopters along Route 4 over the Potomac River.
Horizontal Deviation: There are mentions that the helicopter was about half a mile off its designated route.
Path Description: Route 4 is meant to hug the eastern bank of the Potomac River, but the helicopter had reportedly turned toward the center of the river, which would have placed it closer to the airport and the incoming American Airlines jet.
The helicopter was flying at 200 FT then proceeded to ascend quickly within around 37 seconds to the same altitude as the plane at around 400 FT.
Many people have assumed that the pilots of the helicopter were having an AUDIO CONVERSATION with the ATC or the other plane. No, they were not. There is NO proof of life from the helicopter before the crash. The communications from the Black Hawk helicopter to ATC were one line and in text ONLY. So, they could have been talking to anybody.
Therefore, as of the latest information, there is no publicly accessible audio where you can hear the helicopter pilot speaking to ATC. [A day later, there suddenly appeared a recording with a male voice speaking one line about “visual separation” - however, we were told that the pilot was a female. Also, the helicopter was on a different frequency than the CRJ which also muddies the story and there was previous issue with this. I will deal with that in Part 2.]
Here is the first briefing from the NTSB on the evening of January 29:
NTSB Media Briefing - PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 and Sikorsky H-60 military helicopter collision
“Jennifer Homendy and I'm the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety board. The Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency that's charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation and serious accident and serious incident in the United States.”
Jennifer Homendy is the current chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). She has held this position since August 2021 - under Obama-Biden.
“We don’t have a lot of information right now. We don’t know if it was mechanical error or human error. We will probably have more than one black box to speak of. It’s our understanding that the Sikorski helicopter is equipped with some form of recording devices and those will be read either by the DOD or by us. Regarding Air Traffic Control (ATC) - we received a large package from the FAA at about 3am this morning. We believe there are no survivors.”
Yet - at the same time the FBI issued a statement, which was repeated over and over again by the fake news, that this was NOT intentional, foul play or TERRORISM. HOW DID THEY KNOW ANYTHING AT THIS POINT?
Multiple sources reported that a senior FBI official from the Washington Field Office stated there was "no indication of criminality or terrorism" related to the crash.
President Trump made this statement right after the crash.
A few hours later, after examining the video of the crash, he posted this…
The next day he posted this…helicopter pilots are TRAINED to NOT fly above 200 FEET. They were at 400 FEET.
IMHO, Trump’s statement “that’s not really too complicated to understand, is it??” is sarcasm and a sure sign that this crash wasn’t just a mistake. There is much more to the story. I agree - and I’ve uncovered much more information that you need to know.
DC Crash - Part 1
DC Crash - Part 2
DC Crash - Part 3
DC Crash - Part 4
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