Audio recordings from air traffic control (ATC) at Reagan National Airport offer a chilling account of the moments surrounding Wednesday night's collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet. The incident, which occurred around 9 p.m. over the Potomac River, involved 64 individuals on the passenger jet and three soldiers aboard the helicopter, prompting a large-scale recovery effort.

The ATC recordings capture the controller guiding American Airlines Flight 5342 to Runway 33. The pilot confirms readiness to land the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet. Subsequently, the controller instructs the Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, identified as "PAT25," to pass behind the approaching jet.

The controller's instruction, "PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight? PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ," is followed by silence on the main ATC frequency. Reports indicate the helicopter acknowledged the instruction on a separate helicopter frequency.

Approximately 40 seconds later, ground control alerts the tower with a shocked, "Tower, did you see that?" The tower confirms witnessing the collision, initiating urgent flight diversions.

A female controller can be heard implementing emergency procedures: "Everybody hold your positions on the field right now. Fire command, the accident happened in the river. Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river... he approached into Runway 33. All runways are closed. Nobody's landing, no one moving at all." She further grants fire command full access to all taxiways and runways for the response.

Describing the scene, the controller recounts seeing a fireball before both aircraft disappeared into the river, estimating the impact point to be roughly half a mile from the Runway 33 approach. At the time of the incident, Reagan National Airport reported clear skies, 10-mile visibility, and northwesterly winds at 16 mph with gusts up to 26 mph. The temperature was 50 degrees.

The Army confirmed the UH-60 Black Hawk, assigned to Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion from Fort Belvoir, was on a training flight. It has also been reported that Russian and U.S. figure skaters were on the American Airlines flight.

This marks the first crash involving a U.S. commercial flight since the 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 incident near Buffalo, New York.