REVEALED: Air Traffic Controllers Told American Airlines Pilots to Land at Secondary, Intersecting Runway in Final Moments of Doomed Flight
Air traffic controllers told the American Airlines pilots to land at a secondary runway at Reagan Airport shortly before a Blackhawk helicopter collided into the aircraft on Wednesday evening.
Reagan Airport has one main runway. There are two shorter secondary runways that are not commonly used.
According to The New York Times, the pilots were told at the last minute to land at one of Reagan’s secondary runways after they were originally told to land on the main runway.
This last minute change caused the pilots to circle around and land on an intersecting runway.
Footage shows the helicopter crash into the American Airlines plane as it came in at a different angle to land at the shorter runway:
Webcam at the Kennedy Center caught an explosion mid-air across the Potomac. https://t.co/v75sxitpH6 pic.twitter.com/HInYdhBYs5
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) January 30, 2025
Additionally, a preliminary FAA report indicated that staffing at the DCA Air Traffic Control tower was “not normal” at the time of the helicopter-plane collision.
According to NBC News, at the time of the collision, one controller was overseeing both helicopter and airplane traffic.
Typically, one controller focuses on helicopter activity.
The New York Times reported:
Shortly before an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night, the plane’s pilots were asked to pivot its landing route from one runway to another, according to a person briefed on the event and conversation overheard on audio recordings of conversations that occurred between an air traffic controller and the pilots.
American Airlines Flight 5342, which was en route to Washington from Wichita, Kan., had originally been cleared by the National Airport traffic control tower to land on the airport’s main runway, called Runway 1, the person briefed on the events and the audio recordings revealed. But in the final moments of the flight, this person and these recordings also showed, the jet pilot was asked by air traffic control to instead make a circle landing on a separate, intersecting runway, Runway 33.
That decision, according to the person who was briefed on the event and two other people who are familiar with the airport’s air traffic, happens routinely when regional jets like the American Airlines aircraft are involved, and may have been made to help keep air traffic moving efficiently by not clogging the main runway. It nonetheless raised questions within the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday morning about congestion at National Airport, one of the nation’s busiest, the person briefed on the event added.
The secondary runway theory was floated earlier this week.
Per a user on X:
Having visited the White House many times to visit the President…and Kinsey (barf)…heres some early feedback on this airspace from personal experience.
1st: Reagan has only 1 primary runway which parallels the river (north south). It does have two secondary runways which are far shorter and tend to only take regional jets.
2nd: From the look of this it appears the plane was landing on the secondary runway from the South, meaning it was basically flying up the Potomac to the North.
3rd: Just before landing, planes typically turn to align with the secondary runway at a low altitude.
4th: That turn takes place to the south east of the airport, an area that tends to have a lot of helicopter traffic, including military helicopters flying from that area.
5th: The use of the secondary runway isn’t super common, most planes land on the primary north south runway.
6th: The DCA airspace is insanely busy, and flights taking off have to contend with a very strict no fly zone over the Capitol, necessitating the river approach from the north and a quick turn when departing to the north.
7th: Given all these factors, and the fact there was a bad near collision in 2024 because of confusion between the primary and secondary runways, I wouldn’t be surprised if the helicopter and plane overlapped in an area the ATC controller doesn’t focus on nearly as much.
Not definitive or placing blame, but hopefully this helps for those who aren’t familiar with the airspace and the dynamics here.
Having visited the White House many times to visit the President…and Kinsey (barf)…heres some early feedback on this airspace from personal experience.
1st: Reagan has only 1 primary runway which parallels the river (north south). It does have two secondary runways which are… https://t.co/ndIDYzNiWN
— Jack O'Neill (@Jack2LOneill) January 30, 2025
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