American Airlines crash
A helicopter assists with search and rescue operations over Capital Cove Marine in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Early reports indicate a helicopter and airplane collided near Reagan National Airport. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A new video of the collision between an American Airlines commercial aircraft and a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington DC's airspace has begun circulating on social media, showcasing a different perspective on the tragic incident.

The video, which was seemingly captured from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, captured the moment an American Airlines domestic flight collided with a Black Hawk Military Helicopter, sending both aircraft into a descent towards the Potomac River. A bright flash of light and an explosion can be seen in the video as the collision occurred.

The crash, which took place on Wednesday night, is believed to have killed all passengers aboard both aircraft, bringing the incident's death toll to 67. Three hundred first responders initially began a search-and-rescue mission which turned into a recovery mission on Thursday morning, according to NBC Washington.

The National Transportation Safety Board has located black boxes, or data recorders, from the American Airlines jetliner involved in the incident. These will likely assist officials in understanding how and why the crash occurred.

"We will probably have more than one black box, so to speak. It's our understanding that the Sikorsky helicopter is equipped with some form of recording device, and those will be read either by the DOD or by us. We have a good starting relationship with them, and we've already made agreements in order to be able to do that. So I feel comfortable in what we're going to be doing," said NTSB board member J. Todd Inman.

The pilots of both aircraft had reportedly flown that exact route before and were very experienced.

"Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn't something new to either one of them," said chief of staff for Army aviation Jonathan Koziol. "Even the crew chief in the back has been in the unit for a very long time, very familiar with the area, very familiar with the routing structure."

As of Thursday morning, 28 bodies had been recovered from the Potomac River, including the bodies of all three Army soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter.

Originally published by Latin Times.

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