Independent aviation accident investigators are breaking down the latest clues from the deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people on Jan. 29.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday that the pilots flying American Airlines Flight 5342, from Wichita, Kansas to D.C., one second before the collision, pitched the nose of the regional jet up 9 degrees.
At the time, the plane was on a standard 3-degree decline as it neared Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport.
The NTSB said that after the jet turned to make its final approach, and the plane was lined up for the runway, the pilots received an automated collision avoidance warning, indicating there was traffic in the vicinity.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University professor and long-time accident investigator Bill Waldock said the evidence shows him the pilots may have been attempting to take evasive action to avoid the Army Black Hawk helicopter.
“The only good assumption is that the crew reacted to that, attempting to either go around or get out of the way,” Waldock said. “We don’t know, but there was an aggressive pull on the yoke. There’s only one reasonable conclusion and that’s that they were attempting to get away from it or avoid the collision.”
Based on where the Black Hawk struck the jet, behind the right wing, Waldock said had the jet’s pilots had another 5 to 10 seconds it might have had enough time to avoid the Black Hawk, but he adds it would have been very close.
“They just ran out of time,” he said.
The night before the collision, on Jan. 28, another airplane also took evasive action to avoid a crash, aborting its landing and doing what’s called a “go around” before landing safely several minutes later.
A Washington Post analysis showed that in the 10 years before the deadly collision there were at least 100 incidents near Reagan National Airport where helicopters and planes got close enough to each other that alerts were triggered and reports were filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The NTSB also believes there were likely discrepancies concerning the helicopter’s altitude, although it’s unclear if there was a mechanical malfunction on the aircraft’s altimeter. That’s the air pressure driven instrument that is used to measure the distance an aircraft is above ground level.
“We are looking at the possibility of there may be bad data,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Friday. “We have a lot of work to do till we get to that.”
In an interview with WTOP, retired NTSB Senior Investigator Greg Feith explained it’s clear the helicopter pilots were at least 100 feet higher than the 200-foot mandated altitude for helicopters flying in the very busy helicopter corridor near the airport.
The helicopter’s cockpit voice recorder showed the three-member helicopter crew did discuss the altitude issue regarding being too high, but it’s unclear what, if any action was taken.
“It’s obvious that they didn’t get it resolved, because they were still off their altitude at the time of impact,” Feith said. “And I don’t care if it’s 287 feet or 587 feet, the fact is, did that crew attempt to resolve the issue?”
Feith said another topic investigators will look closely at is the conversation between controllers and the helicopter pilots, especially the acknowledgment the pilots visually said they acknowledged seeing the American flight, when in reality they may have been looking at another plane that had just taken off from the nearby Runway One.
Services were held Saturday in Savannah, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina for two of the crew members on Flight 5342.
First Officer Sam Lilley’s memorial service took place in his hometown Savannah. His father Tim said Lilley always wanted to be an airline pilot, and he had recently got engaged.
Services were also held for Danasia Elder, a Charlotte-based flight attendant who died.
Earlier this week a funeral was held in Brooklyn for the 34-year-old Captain Jonathan Campos. Friends said he “lived for aviation.”
On Feb. 5, the funeral for flight attendant Ian Epstein was held in Charlotte.
Meanwhile, PSA Airlines, which is the regional airline that operated the American Airlines flight, said all four crew members were posthumously given the company’s Honorary President’s Award. It’s the highest distinction for employees and the aviators “represent the very best of our airline.”
First Officer Lilley was also promoted to Captain.
PSA Airlines and American Eagle are regional subsidiaries of the Fort Worth-based American Airlines.
The NTSB’s preliminary report on the collision is likely to be released in two weeks, but the full report is not expected until early 2026.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
