“Crash, crash, crash, that is an alert three,” one of many air site visitors controllers may be heard saying within the audio from across the time of the crash.
“I do not know if you happen to caught earlier what occurred, however there was a collision on the method into 33. We’ll be shutting down operations for the indefinite future,” one other controller remarked.
“Each the helicopter and the aircraft crashed within the river,” a 3rd air site visitors controller may be heard saying.
“It was in all probability out in the course of the river,” the controller mentioned. “I simply noticed a fireball after which it was simply gone. I have never seen something since they hit the river. But it surely was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.”
The crash was caught on a webcam on the John F Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts in Washington. The clip exhibits the plane exploding in flames and plummeting to earth after it’s struck by the helicopter.
A US official mentioned no senior navy officers had been on the helicopter, whereas US Determine Skating mentioned several skaters had been on board the American Airlines flight.