An American Airlines flight originating in Connecticut en route to Reagan Airport was forced to abort its landing due to a helicopter just one day before an American Airlines flight collided with a Blackhawk helicopter.
According to FlightAware, American Airlines flight 4514 from Windsor Locks, Connecticut was forced to loop around after a helicopter crossed its flight path near Reagan Airport on Tuesday evening.
The plane looped around and landed safely 13 minutes early.
WATCH:
#BREAKING: Just 24 HOURS before an American Airlines flight collided with a Blackhawk at Reagan National Airport, ANOTHER American flight had to abort landing due to a helicopter crossing its flight path at the same airport
AA4514 can be seen on radar having to go around a… pic.twitter.com/kecSr9V8WP
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 31, 2025
The Daily Mail reported:
A passenger flight had to abort landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC the day before American Airlines Flight 5342 collided in midair with a helicopter.
Republic Airways Flight 4514 was forced to back out of touching down and had to make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path.
That’s according to an audio recording from air traffic control captured on Tuesday and heard by The Washington Post.
Flightradar data for the flight shows the plane had been travelling from Windsor Locks in Connecticut to the city and had to dramatically gain altitude shortly after descending on Reagan National Airport. It eventually landed safely.
The incident is eerily similar to the events of Wednesday night, when an American Airlines plane smashed into a US Army Black Hawk helicopter as it came into land at the airport.
24 hours later 67 people perished after a Blackhawk helicopter flew right into an American Airlines plane near Reagan Airport.
WATCH:
Webcam at the Kennedy Center caught an explosion mid-air across the Potomac. https://t.co/v75sxitpH6 pic.twitter.com/HInYdhBYs5
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) January 30, 2025
A preliminary FAA report indicated that staffing at the DCA Air Traffic Control tower was “not normal” at the time of the helicopter-plane collision.
According to NBC News, at the time of the collision, one controller was overseeing both helicopter and airplane traffic.
Typically, one controller focuses on helicopter activity.
President Trump on Thursday morning blamed Biden and Obama’s DEI policies that lowered requirements for air traffic controllers.
