Army helicopter, plane crash: See impact caught on video, hear air traffic control (graphic warning)

WASHINGTON — The moment that an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into an American Airlines plane near Ronald Reagan National Airport was caught on camera by EarthCam.

The Washington Post reported that the camera that recorded the moment of impact was mounted at the Kennedy Center less than 10 miles away.

Warning the video may be disturbing to some.

Moments before the crash, air traffic controllers can be heard telling the helicopter pilots to pass behind the American Airlines flight that was on approach to Reagan National Airport from Wichita, Kansas.

Another aircraft radioed to the control tower asking, “Tower, did you see that?” referring to the crash.

The air traffic controllers told other flights that were heading to Reagan to be redirected to other airports.

Another air traffic controller can be heard “crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,” USA Today reported.

Others can be heard saying “I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into 33. We’re going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future.”

A third said, “Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river.”

“It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball and then it was gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit,” the controller said.

You can also hear them redirecting flights to Dulles International Airport and to Baltimore Airport, two of the three airports that serve the national capital region.

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