Republic Airways Flight 4514, from Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, had to make a second approach at Reagan National on Tuesday — after a helicopter appeared near the plane’s flight path, the Washington Post reported.
The next night, American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kan. was readying to land at the same airport, just across the Potomac River from Washington, when it collided with a military helicopter shortly before 9 p.m.
All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the jet were killed, along with three soldiers aboard the Army UH-60 Black Hawk in the deadliest air disaster in the US since 2001.
Air traffic controllers warned the military helicopter it was getting close to the plane before the fiery collision about 400 feet above the icy river, according to radio transmissions, the report added.
MA/PR
Your Comment