NTSB: helicopter crew may not have heard key air traffic control transmission before DCA mid-air collision

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - National Transportation Safety Board officials said Friday that a key air traffic control transmission may not have been heard by the crew of an Army Black Hawk helicopter just before it collided with an American Airlines regional jet last month, killing everyone onboard both aircraft.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters on Friday that the helicopter’s cockpit voice recorder data suggested that an instruction from Reagan National Airport’s air traffic control tower to fly behind the airplane may have been missed.

“The instructions from ATC were to behind the CRJ. That transmission, was interrupted, it was stepped on. We do not have evidence on the CVR of the Black Hawk that they may have not received, ‘ behind the,’” she said.

Homendy said the helicopter’s crew may not have heard the transmission because the helicopter’s microphone key was pressed at the time of the transmission.

The mid-air collision killed the three crew on the helicopter and 64 people who were on the CRJ-700 jet, American Airlines flight 5342, on Jan. 29.

The agency is also looking into possible discrepancies between what the Black Hawk pilots saw on their instruments in the cockpit and the aircraft’s actual altitude.

“We are seeing conflicting information in the data, which is why we aren’t releasing altitude for the Blackhawks entire route,” said Homendy.

Officials also noted that the helicopter’s crew were on a training mission and likely were wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

Homendy added that the on-scene portion of the investigation has been completed and said that wreckage from the crash will be moved from the airport to a secure location over the next week.

Copyright 2025 Gray DC. All rights reserved.