The moment before a helicopter and aircraft collided in the middle of the air over the Potomac River

Cnn
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Before the American Eagle Flight 5342 went to the air from Wichita, Kansas, Wednesday night, on the way to the country’s capital, Figure Skating Cracked Spencer Lane a photo of the plane’s wing over the tarmac against the horizon.

A gray-blue cloudy sky formed a shiny curtain over the sunset in the image that the teenager sent to his Instagram stories. The up-and-night skater wrote “ICT-> DCA”, which refers to the airport codes to the departure and destination towns.

Lane, his mother as well as other budding skating stars, their families and coaches from the United States and Russia waited for their departure after participating in the American art skating and a development camp for young athletes.

In total, 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the commercial jet when it started at 1 p.m. 17.39

The 2-hour, 35-minute journey would deliver them to one of the country’s most overloaded and complicated flight access, a runway in Reagan National Airport, just south of the capital’s desire enlightened marble monuments.

It ended as the deadliest US aviation disaster in nearly a quarter of a century.

On a clear evening, the almost full Bombardier CRJ700 jet for runway 33 around 10 pm. 20.48 when it collided Midair with an American Army Black Hawk helicopter with a crew of three on a training flight. Videos caught a giant red-orange fireball, followed by an eerie trace of smoke and burning garbage. The two aircraft threw themselves into the dark, frigid Potomac river. No one survived.

The victims represent a cross -section of the legions that cross America’s overloaded respiratory tract on a given day, including a biology professor and popular soldiers, long -standing aviation pilots and flight person with the hopeful art skating stars, their family members and coaches.

Timothy Lille, whose son, Sam Lilley, was the first officer of the American Airlines Flight 5342, said he spent 20 years as a helicopter pilot in the army. Both he and his son shared a passion for flying. Now Lilley told Fox 5 AtlantaHe has to reconcile that passion with the cause of his son’s death.

“It hurts me because it’s my brothers,” he said of the army helicopter herd. “Now my son is dead.”

Passenger SMS Man: Fly will land soon

In Reagan National Airport, Hamaad Raza received a text message from his wife: the flight was approx. 20 minutes from touching. He later showed the message to a reporter for CNN -attached Wusa.

When Flight 5342 made its subsequent descent just miles south of the White House, the UH-60 Black Hawk flew at a low altitude along what is known as Route 4. The Flyvestien squeezes the eastern shore of Potomac and is reserved as a special corridor for Law enforcement, Medevac, military and government helicopters. Helicopters in the corridor must be on or below 200 feet above sea level.

The military helicopter may have flight outside its approved flight road, at a higher altitude than it should be, and at least half a mile from the approved route, the The New York Times reported.

Members of the US Army 12. Aviation Battalion Bravo Company – based in Fort Belvoir, Virginia – the soldiers on board had experience with the crowded and tightly controlled airspace over DC.

The helicopter pilot and the co-pilot had at least 1,500 hours of flight time between them-a significant amount, according to a senior army official, considering their average flights is about two hours. Jonathan Koziol, Chief of Staff for Army Aviation, described the soldiers as “a fantastic crew. Very experienced on what they did. ”

The two pilots at the controls of Flight 5342 were also experienced. The captain had been flying with PSA Airlines – which operated the flight for parenting editing – for almost six years, according to the company’s CEO Robert Isom. The first officer had almost two years with the airline.

Around 1 p.m. On Wednesday, on Wednesday, a flight controller at Reagan National contacted the commercial jet.

“Can you take track 33?” Asked the controller, led the jet to a shorter runway cutting the busy main course.

“Yes, we can do 33,” the pilot replied.

“Can confirm the runway 33, lane 33 cleared to land …”

The soldiers at the Black Hawk implemented what defense secretary Pete Hegeth described as an annual at night education about “a continuity of the government mission.” Missions are routine: In the case of a disaster, helicopters are often used to initiate government officials into security. Crew members had night vision glasses, the defense secretary said.

The black Hawk flew past Lincoln Memorial and over the tidal pool. As the Inky Black Potomac spread under the helicopter, an air traffic controller at Reagan National contacted the military pilot.

“You have crj in sight?” Asked the air traffic controller, referring to the regional jet. The controller instructed the military aircraft to look for the jet.

Before the pilot responded, the controller instructed the helicopter to “pass behind crj” according to a feed of air traffic communication.

“Pat-25 has aircraft in sight,” replied the helicopter pilot with his call signal. He requested “visual separation”, which means he visually maintained a safe distance from the jet aircraft. The tower confirmed and gave the pilot permission to visually navigate and avoid aircraft 5342.

This final communication was followed by more than 10 seconds of silence before the giant fireball broke out over Potomac. The sound caught audible GISPS, including a high “oooh” in the background.

“Oh, mine!” Someone is heard that says in the background of radio transfers. Air traffic controllers are heard encryption to direct jets to nearby airports.

“Tower, did you see that?” The pilot for a plane is heard asking about the radio transfer.

“It seems that there were torches up in the air,” a pilot reported to the tower at one point.

“We are handling it right now,” the controller replied.

An unknown pilot told the tower that he saw “torches from the opposite side of Potomac.”

“Apparently both are involved aircraft in the river,” the controller said later.

At the time of the collision, an air traffic controller worked two different tower positions and handled both local and helicopter traffic, an air traffic control source told CNN. The source said the setup was not uncommon. However, an internal preliminary federal aviation management report said staff were “not normal for the time of day and traffic,” New York Times reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which examines the collision, has restored both flight data and cockpit voice recorders – known as the black boxes – from the jet. The helicopter’s flight data and voice recorder – combined in a black box – have also been restored.

After weeks of icy temperatures in the region, Wednesday night felt relatively crooked on Wednesday. Jimmy Mazel, 17, and his girlfriend decided to have dinner at Gravely Point Park in Arlington, Virginia. Located just north of Reagan National, the park is a popular destination to see arrive and departing aircraft floating over their heads. An evening of eating and aircraft spotting was interrupted, he said, of “a white light that fell out of the sky.”

Nearby, Roy Best, stood on his building’s roof terrace when he heard a loud noise and saw a bright light flame in the distance.

“I turned to the side, and I saw as a big spark,” he said. “And then you know, just something that falls.”

First, best said, he thought it could have been fireworks. A little later he learned the truth.

When a direct line with Reagan National Airport called on Wednesday night, David Hoagland said, President of Washington DC firefighters Local 36, the first responders expected a routine report on a flight in need. Instead, they heard, “Crash! Crash! Crash! ”He remembered.

As members of the Union rushed to a pier to board a fire boat, burning waste rained down over Potomac. The first respondents arrived to find the wreck immersed in the shallow water and almost immediately began to find victims, Hoagland said. Some airline passengers were still tense in their seats, but removing them turned out to be difficult as sharp pieces of garbage tore wet suits that the first respondents had worn.

The aircraft was found upside down in three sections in low water-Inclusive the partially immersed wing and lacked a plus. The helicopter wreck was also found.

Gravely Point Park, the destination for flight surveys, is now the place of a Provisional Likhus.

At least 41 organs-28 of these residues identified-have been extracted from the grim depths of Potomac, with almost zero visibility in the water and other difficult conditions that inhibit search efforts. The aircraft’s aircraft must be removed so that the remaining bodies can be picked up, DC Fire and EMS chef John Donnelly said.

Clouds and cold rain rolled in on Friday – when aircraft landed and started and searched herds continued their work – enlarged the pallet that the tragedy has thrown over the city and the nation.