American Airlines jet collision: Helicopter crew in collision with plane may not have heard key instructions from tower

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy discusses incomplete radio transmissions and altimeter issues in Black Hawk helicopter crash investigation.

The crew of the Army helicopter that collided in midair with an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and also may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers to move behind the plane, investigators said Friday (February 14, 2025).

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told reporters that the recording from the Black Hawk helicopter cockpit suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left the crew without understanding how it should shift position just before the Jan. 29 crash, in which all 67 aboard the two aircraft were killed,

“That transmission was interrupted — it was stepped on,” she said, leaving them unable to hear the words “pass behind the” because the helicopter's microphone key was pressed at the same moment.

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The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another communication when the tower said the jet was turning toward a different runway, she said.

Ms. Homendy said the helicopter was on a “check" flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles. Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

It will take more than a year to get the final NTSB report on the collision, and Homendy warned reporters that many issues were still being probed.