DC Plane Crash: Shocking Audio Reveals Air Traffic Controller Tried To Get Army Helicopter To Move

New insight is coming out after that shocking American Airlines plane crash.

As we’ve been reporting, an American Airlines plane crashed into a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC on Wednesday night. The plane — which was carrying 64 people from Kansas to DC — was about to land when the two aircrafts collided and crashed into the Potomac River. There are no survivors expected and recovery efforts are still underway. Truly horrific.

This is the first plane crash of its kind in years, so naturally, everyone’s wondering: What happened? What went wrong?? Thanks to some audio recordings, we’re starting to get more clues…

According to the Associated Press on Thursday, less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller actually asked the helicopter — handle PAT25 — if it could see the plane, requesting:

“PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?”

Just moments later, the controller then spoke again — this time instructing the helicopter to get out of the way! They said:

“PAT25, pass behind the CRJ.”

But the helicopter never responded to the warnings! Just seconds later, the aircrafts hit each other. Jeez. Listen (below):

As for the plane, its radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, which is roughly over the middle of the river, where it crashed, according to the outlet. It’s unclear if they saw the chopper at all.

That’s not all…

Also per AP, reports have claimed that the airplane appeared to be flying too high initially when they were making their final approach to the runway, based on a review of route maps and radar data. At the same time, the helicopter was flying about 100 feet ABOVE its max altitude at the time of the crash.

The published maximum FAA altitude for Route 4 — which is near Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Potomac River, near where this happened — is 200 feet above ground level. A radar track posted online on Wednesday evening, according to the outlet, showed that the Black Hawk was 300 feet above ground level at the time. That said, this has not been verified.

Seemingly backing this theory, new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did say that an “elevation issue” seemed to be part of the problem in this incident. Wow. Were they just in the wrong place at the wrong time? If so, why didn’t the helicopter respond to the air traffic controller?? We still have so many questions. Hopefully, investigators will get to the bottom of this very soon, especially for those who lost a loved one.

Thoughts? Do U have any theories? Let us know (below).

[Image via American Airlines/Sony/YouTube]