American Airlines CRJ-700 collides with helicopter near Reagan National

At the time, it was my best attempt at making some sense of the recording. It could appear that the helicopter was approaching more directly from behind at a high speed, overtaking the plane, but it made more sense that they were crossing paths and speed and direction were deceptive. The plane would have been descending, so conceivably at an angle and an approach that either the helicopter pilot didn’t have a clear sightline of or missed it amid the lights and distractions of an urban setting. All guesswork, of course, trying to make sense of what is on the video.

There are almost 400 flights a day in and out of DCA - it’s just crazy that these encounters would be left to the humans involved to work them out on an individual basis. I suspect the “fix” would have to be that the DCA final approach corridors are simply off-limits to helos except in emergencies or very specific and limited circumstances.