Posted on 01/30/25
| News Source: Pikesville Patch
Arlngton, VA - Jan. 30, 2025 - Flight 5342 was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, where the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held. Sixty passengers and four crew members were on board the plane, including Russian and American figure skaters, reports say.
According to the online tracker FlightAware, Flight 5342 departed at 5:22 p.m. CST and was set to arrive around 9 p.m. EST in Washington, D.C.
A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked Flight 5342 if it could land on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.
In a recording released after the crash, air traffic controllers can be heard asking the helicopter if it has the commercial jet in sight. Later, the controller directs the aircraft to "land immediately." Listen to the audio here.
The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac.
The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water, officials said. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.