Focus Turns to Helicopter’s Altitude After Deadly Midair Collision

The helicopter’s maximum allowed altitude for its flight path was 200 feet, according to the Army aviation chief of staff.

Emergency units respond after a passenger aircraft collided with a helicopter over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 30, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Attention has turned to the flight altitude of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport on the night of Jan. 29.

The accident—the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001—occurred at about 9 p.m. ET. All 64 people aboard the jet, along with the three military officers in the helicopter, perished. Based on flight data that has yet to be independently verified, the helicopter was operating at roughly 300 feet above the ground at the time of the collision.