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The NTSB has begun recovering data from flight data and cockpit voice recorders taken from the CRJ700 involved in the D.C. midair collision. NTSB Photo

D.C. mid-air collision: Cockpit voice & flight data recorders recovered from CRJ700

By Oliver Johnson | January 31, 2025

Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 49 seconds.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the wreckage of the Bombardier CRJ700 involved in the mid-air collision with a U.S. Army Black Hawk near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Officials confirmed yesterday that there were no survivors from the crash, which happened shortly before 9 p.m. local time on Jan. 29 as the Black Hawk, on a night training mission, collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 as it was preparing to the land at the airport. The two aircraft then fell into the freezing waters of the Potomac River.

Sixty-seven people were killed in the accident (64 onboard the airplane, and three crew on the helicopter), making it the deadliest aviation incident in the U.S. for over 20 years.

Search-and-rescue workers from multiple agencies spent the night searching the waters for survivors, but by the morning their work had moved into a recovery phase.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation into the accident. In a press conference yesterday afternoon, NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy asked for patience in waiting for facts as the agency began its work, describing it as “an all-hands-on-deck” event.

“We’re here to assure the American people that we are going to leave no stone unturned in this investigation,” she said. “We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy looking at the facts.”

An audio recording appearing to be a conversation between air traffic control and the Black Hawk in the moments before the crash was available online within hours. In it, air traffic control asks the helicopter if they have the CRJ700 in sight. The Black Hawk confirms that they do, and requests visual separation, which is approved.

NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy speaks to the media about the agency's investigation into the D.C. midair collision.
NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy speaks to the media about the agency’s investigation into the D.C. midair collision.

Addressing the speculation and apparent data already in the public domain, Homendy said the NTSB has “a lot of information, but we need some time to verify that.”

J. Todd Inman, NTSB member on the scene, said the agency received “a very large package of information” from the Federal Aviation Administration early that morning that was still being reviewed and analysed.

“I would say there is a lot more information that usually comes with that than you usually find online that people may speculate about,” he said. “And that is part of that overall process where we take the time to get the information correct and to make sure that all the parties are engaged and involved and can fact check that information.”

Inman said the NTSB believed the Black Hawk was equipped “with some form of recording devices” which would be read by either the U.S. Department of Defense or the NTSB. “We have a good starting relationship with them and we have already made agreements to be able to do that,” he said.

“A loss of life in aviation accidents is very unusual in the United States and our heartfelt sorry goes out to everyone that is affected,” said Inman. “It affects us, it affects everyone around us. There are a lot of people hurting today. We will help find out what happened. We will do it factually, and we will do it accurately.”

The NTSB has begun recovering data from flight data and cockpit voice recorders taken from the CRJ700 involved in the D.C. midair collision. NTSB Photo
The NTSB has begun recovering data from flight data and cockpit voice recorders taken from the CRJ700 involved in the D.C. midair collision. NTSB Photo

Inman did, however, confirm that the aircraft was transiting between established helicopter operating “tracks” at the time of the crash. “If you look at D.C., you see a lot of helicopters going down into this area, so there’s a very well defined system in that regard,” he said.

Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said both helicopter and airliner were in standard flight patterns at the time of the collision.

Pete Hegseth, the recently-appointed Secretary of Defense, released an update yesterday evening in which he confirmed the crew of the Black Hawk was from 12th Aviation Battalion, Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which he said has been granted a 48-hour operational pause.

The aircraft was performing an annual proficiency night training flight, he said, and the “fairly experienced” crew were equipped with night vision goggles.

“Tragically . . . a mistake was made,” he said. “There was some sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the DoD and Army level.”

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