It has been nearly a year since the sky over the Potomac turned into a fireball, and honestly, the city still feels the weight of it. On January 29, 2025, a regional jet and a military helicopter collided in what became the deadliest aviation disaster on U.S. soil in over two decades.
People still talk about the "thud" heard in Alexandria.
The news about dc plane crash isn't just about the mechanics of a mid-air collision anymore. It is about a massive failure in the systems designed to keep us safe. Just this week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced a final public hearing for January 27, 2026. They are finally ready to vote on the "probable cause" of why American Eagle Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter occupied the exact same pocket of air at 8:48 p.m.
Sixty-seven lives were lost.
The Night the Potomac Went Dark
The facts are brutal. American Eagle Flight 5342 was a Bombardier CRJ700 coming in from Wichita, Kansas. It was a routine flight. The passengers were mostly families and athletes, including a large group from the U.S. figure skating community returning from a development camp.
On the other side was "Priority Air Transport 25," a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk on a night-vision training mission.
It was a clear night. Cold, but clear.
The pilots of the regional jet, Captain Jonathan Campos and First Officer Samuel Lilley, were cleared to switch from Runway 1 to Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport (DCA). It was a last-minute change. This happens often at DCA to manage flow, but it pushed the jet right into the path of the helicopter.
What the NTSB Dockets Finally Revealed
We've learned a lot from the cockpit voice recorders (CVR) over the last few months. One of the most chilling details is that the Black Hawk crew was likely flying "blind" in a way we didn't expect. They were wearing night-vision goggles, which are great for seeing in the dark but terrible for peripheral vision. It’s like looking through paper towel rolls.
Then there was the radio "stepping."
The air traffic controller tried to tell the helicopter to "pass behind" the jet. But at that exact millisecond, the helicopter pilot keyed their own mic to speak. The instructions were cut off.
"The transmission was stepped on," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy stated during a briefing. "The crew never heard the command to move."
There was also a discrepancy in altitude. The helicopter’s instruments might have been off by as much as 100 feet. In the cramped airspace of Washington D.C., a hundred feet is the difference between a close call and a catastrophe.
The New News About DC Plane Crash: Legal and Human Fallout
The Department of Justice recently made a move that shocked a lot of people in the aviation world. They actually admitted fault. In a court filing responding to a lawsuit from the family of Casey Crafton, the government conceded that both the FAA and the Army "breached their duty of care."
That is legal-speak for "we messed up."
It’s rare for the feds to admit that before a final NTSB report is even out. But the evidence was overwhelming. One controller was handling both commercial jets and local helicopter traffic. That’s a lot of plates to spin.
A Bittersweet Olympic Dream
If you follow sports, you probably saw Maxim Naumov’s name in the headlines this week. His parents, 1994 world champion skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, were on that flight.
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Maxim just qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
He did it while carrying a photo of them from when he was three years old. It’s a gut-wrenching reminder of the human cost. For the families, the news about dc plane crash isn't a headline; it’s an empty chair at the dinner table that’s been there for 350 days.
Why the FAA is Scrambling
Since the crash, the "River Visual" approach and the helicopter routes around DCA have been completely overhauled. For years, pilots complained that planes and helicopters were flying within 75 feet of each other.
It was a "routine" danger.
The NTSB now mandates that certain helicopter routes be shut down entirely whenever Runway 33 is in use. They are also pushing for better ADS-B Out requirements for military aircraft. Basically, the Army was flying around the capital with their "digital license plates" turned off, making it harder for civilian air traffic control to track them accurately.
What Happens Next
The January 27 board meeting will be the final word. We expect the board to focus on three main things:
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- ATC Staffing: The FAA is under fire for having one person do the work of two that night.
- Technology Gaps: Why the jet's collision avoidance system (TCAS) didn't give a "Resolution Advisory" (a command to climb or descend) in time.
- Military Integration: Ensuring Army pilots and civilian controllers are literally on the same page—and the same frequency.
If you are following this story, keep an eye on the NTSB public docket. It's thousands of pages of transcripts and radar plots that paint a picture of a disaster that was, quite frankly, entirely avoidable.
To stay informed and take action regarding aviation safety or to track the final report, you should monitor the NTSB’s official Case Analysis and Reporting Tool (CAROL) or sign up for FAA safety briefings. If you are a frequent flier out of Reagan National, you can also look into the new "no-fly" zones for helicopters that were implemented specifically to prevent a repeat of this tragedy.