Air traffic control asked if Army helicopter had American Airlines jet ‘in sight’ before collision

(Gray News) - Air traffic control asked the crew onboard the Army helicopter if they had the American Airlight passenger jet “in sight” less than 30 seconds before the two collided.

A few minutes before the plane was set to land, air traffic controllers asked the pilots if they could land the jet on a shorter runway at Reagan International. The pilots said they could.

Controllers then cleared the plane to land and the plane adjusted its path to the new runway.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the Army helicopter if it could see the plane: “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The controller made another radio call to the Army helicopter: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.”

Seconds later, the Army helicopter and plane collided.

The passenger jet had 60 passengers and 4 crew members aboard.

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.

The collision prompted a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.

All takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.

U.S. Figure Skating said passengers on the jet included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members.

Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships and competed at the Winter Olympics twice, were aboard the plane, according to the Kremlin.