#AA flight 5342

[saturn-sketches-hyperfixtations]

remembering Jinna Han.

Jinna was a 13 year old figure skater who was on AA flight 5342. 67/67 people died. Jinna seemed like such a happy girl.

[razzleberry-lemonade]

this is so devastating 💔😢 not even 2 days apart… so tragic 😭 my heart goes out to the families of these unfortunate events 💕🙏🏻

[alwaysupdatenews24]

Fatalities confirmed after passenger plane collides with Army Black Hawk, source say

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[ireton]

Minute-by-minute breakdown of the D.C. plane crash

[babyenemychild]

American Airlines CEO statement regarding Flight 5342

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[worldnews90]

Fatalities confirmed after passenger plane collides with Army Black Hawk, source says....

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[trendusafd]

American Airlines CEO statement regarding...Read More

[figureskatingfanblog]

Condolences to everyone who lost family and friends in the crash AA flight 5342. Many young skaters and their coaches and parents were on board, coming back from the Development Camp. My condolences to all, but a particular mention to Maxim Naumov who lost both of his parents/coaches.

[captain-price-unofficially]

New footage from a DCA security camera of AA Flight 5342 colliding with an Army UH-60 over the Potomac. This comes on the heels of Trump firing hundreds of FAA senior managers.

[saywhat-politics]

Trump did not cite any evidence that DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) hiring policies were related to the crash

President Donald Trump addressed reporters during a briefing on the deadly midair collision between an American Airlines jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River

Trump claimed that DEI initiatives and other hiring policies were, in part, to blame for Wednesday's accident

When asked by CNN's Kaitlan Collins if it was too soon to blame these policies without evidence, Trump responded by saying, "That's not a very smart question"

President Donald Trump addressed reporters during a live briefing on Thursday, Jan. 30, regarding the deadly American Airlines collision with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C.

On the evening of Jan. 29, AA Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River as the passenger flight approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The crash, which involved three soldiers on the helicopter and 64 people on the airplane, is believed to be the most deadly aircraft incident since 2001.

During the press conference, Trump, 78, called the accident "a real tragedy" and "a tragedy of terrible proportions. He then made claims that the government's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and the mental health of employees were to blame before eventually getting into a heated exchange with reporters in the room during a Q&A.

[wherepond]

Blackhawk - American Eagle collision

500-hour Black Hawk H-60 pilot, Rebecca Lobach, failed to see & avoid American Eagle 5342

Michael 'Rocket' Blackstone, a 43 year pilot, 26 year airline pilot, and aerobatic performer and stunt pilot describes what he feels to be the likely causes of the unthinkable....a midair collision between a military H-60 and an airliner.

This is the first midair collision on US soil since the Aeromexico crash in Southern California in 1986 - some 38 year ago. 

The likely causes are now pointing toward the 28 year old female pilot, Captain Rebecca Lobach who was at the controls of the H-60 with only 500 hours of flight time was allegedly  taking a competency check ride with Chief Warrent Officer Andrew Eaves, 39 was evaluating her had only 1,000 hours. 

The pair failed to see and avoid traffic called out by Washington Tower after stating that they had the traffic in sight.

Clearly the H-60 crew did not have the traffic in sight, failed to fly at or below the required 200' altitude on the route, and are the likely cause of 67 people to lose their lives.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved in this horrible aviation tragedy. May this never happen again.

"UPDATE: DCA mid-air Black Hawk & AA 5342 My latest thoughts, Army & ATC training failures likely"

[space-for-brains]

UPDATE ON FLIGHT 5342/UH-60L BLACK HAWK & Additional Context

Total fatality count is now officially 60 passengers and 4 crew from Flight 5342, and 3 crew from the Black Hawk. Total 67 dead, with no known survivors. It is now the deadliest crash in the US since November 2001.

The black boxes from Flight 5342 have been recovered. The black box and cockpit voice recorder for the Black Hawk have yet to be recovered. The NTSB, FAA, U.S. Dept of Defense, U.S. Army, FBI, and TSB of Canada have all announced they will take part in investigation procedures.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) was in contact with the Black Hawk within 30 seconds of the collision, providing approval to maintain visual separation from the jet. There were multiple jets of the same make/model flying in the area at the time. Despite the airport being known as a difficult place to fly in (with the Pentagon and Potomac river both restricting available airspace/emergency landing areas and the large amount of both military and commercial traffic) the ATC facility was understaffed.

According to a report from the NYT, this is not uncommon for most of the country's ATC towers. The job is stressful, requires a lot of training, and does not pay well. At the time of the collision, the position for helicopter control should have been covered by two controllers, but only had one.

The CEO of American Airlines (AA), Robert Isom, stated in a video on Jan 30th that a hotline has been launched for the families and loved ones of the victims: 1-800-679-8215 . The pilots were Captain Jonathan Campos, with six years experience at AA, and First Officer Samuel Lilley, with two years experience at AA.

The US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, stated that the crew of the Black Hawk was participating in a routine annual retraining and we're all fairly experienced. The crew included the pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, the crew chief Staff Sergeant Ryan O'Hara, and a yet unnamed crewmember of the rank Captain.

The investigation is still ongoing.

The following is additional context I believe is relevant to aviation as a whole, though not directly about Flight 5342.

As I'm sure many have heard, Trump has stated that the true fault of the accident is the fault of DEI. Of course there have been numerous public statements and backlash against this, plenty of Trump admin people are echoing the same sentiment but under the flavor of "needed the best of the best for safety". It is worth noting that during Trump's previous term, DEI initiatives remained unchallenged and his own admin even had a program to train 20 people with "targeted disabilities" to train for careers in air traffic operation. I don't believe I have to tell anyone that BIPOC and disabled people are not the cause of a horrific air collision.

Additionally, the FAA Administrator position is currently vacant. Former admin Mike Whitaker resigned on January 20th. Elon Musk had publicly called for Whitaker to resign on X in September 2024, as well as stating: "The fundamental problem is that humanity will forever be confined to Earth unless there is radical reform of the FAA!"

This sentiment likely stemmed from fines levied against SpaceX in 2023 for an unapproved launch control room that had been constructed, failure to conduct routine safety poll of flight controllers, and using non FAA approved rocket fuel. While Whitaker was not the admin at the time of these fines, Musk still eagerly announced on X that SpaceX would be filing suit against FAA for regulatory overreach. Later, Whitaker did make the following statement to the House of Reps during his testimony: "[SpaceX has] been around for 20 years, and I think they need to operate at the highest level of safety... [Fines are] the one tool we have to get compliance on safety matters." The total amount of fines levied against SpaceX was $633,009.

As Musk is now head of the Dept of Government Efficiency, it's my opinion that this context greatly matters for this accident, and any accidents that may occur moving forward. There is a president who is eager to blame problems on minorities and an oligarch eager to ignore safety protocols in order to further his business ventures.

I fear Flight 5342 may not be the last.

[jayveesim]

I try to never think of this type of thing happening in my line of work. Unfortunately, the possibilities are always there, and for my coworkers and I, it is yet another wake-up call.

I hope for nothing but peace for those, directly or indirectly, involved with the AA 5342 flight, at any airline, but especially PSA, flight attendants, and pilots alike. 🫂🩷

[cyarsk5230]

92percent There’s an old saying that significant events happen in threes. First the F-35 fighter jet crash in Alaska, then the mid-air collision between the Black Hawk helicopter and AA flight 5342 at DCA, and now the medical transport jet crash in Philadelphia 😞. The one bright spot in all of this is that the pilot of the F-35 survived. My condolences to the loved ones of all those who perished in these horrific accidents.

[darkmaga-returns]

Was it the miasma of cognitive dissonance blackening the air-space over the DC swamp that caused the deadly collision of AA Flight 5342 and a Blackhawk Helicopter this week — an impenetrable fog arising from the fetid exhalations of so many hyperventilating swamp creatures brooding between the urges of fight-or-flight as Mr. Trump deploys his chosen pest-controllers across the Potomac Basin?

Altogether, these many parasitical swamp creatures make up the greater DC blob, and the blob convulsing and fibrillating is what you witness in these committee hearings with Bobby, Tulsi, and Kash. For instance, fake “progressive” Bernie Sanders (D-VT) faced with the reveal that he leads his colleagues in pharma “contributions” (just under $2-million) . . . or fake Cherokee Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in a fugue state over the perceived threat of Mr. Kennedy to pharma profits . . . or presidential pardon recipient Adam Schiff (D-CA) lecturing Mr. Patel on ethical behavior. . . or Ms. Gabbard enduring the meltdown of Senate Intel Committee tool Michael Bennet (D-CO).

Behind these histrionics by the big gators and peccaries of the collapsing Democratic Party is pure scintillating fear. They are afraid that all of their hoaxes and lies of recent years will be exposed in the months ahead. And they fear that such exposure might lead eventually to legal complications for them. All of that implies loss-of-power, the single element that demonically drives their careers.

[cheapandawesome]

Skater Jon Maravilla Supposed To Be On AA Flight Couldn't Board Plane W/ Dog

Figure Skater Jon Maravilla's life was spared because his dog was too big to board American Airlines flight 5342 ... forcing the young athlete to drive himself back to Washington D.C. Just several hours after Maravilla was turned away at the gate,… via https://ift.tt/i3I8D9f