Timeline of the year since an Army helicopter and plane collided over Washington, DC

Investigators have uncovered several factors that contributed to the collision of a U.S. Army helicopter and a passenger airplane near Washington, D.C., last January, killing 67 people in the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001.

The National Transportation Safety Board discussed the investigation's findings on Tuesday, including testimony about numerous near-crashes in the years before the fatal collision, as well as missed opportunities for the the Federal Aviation Administration to address risks. Thursday marks the first anniversary of the crash.

The FAA is making permanent changes it imposed after the crash. The rules say helicopters and planes can't share the same airspace around Reagan National Airport, prohibit air traffic controllers from relying on visual separation and require all military aircraft to broadcast their locations.

Here's a timeline of events related to the crash:

Jan. 29

Around 8:15 p.m., American Airlines Flight 5342, with 64 people aboard, begins its initial descent into Reagan National Airport.

At 8:43, from the airport's tower, a controller asks the plane's pilots to switch from landing on Runway 1 to Runway 33. A nearby Army Black Hawk helicopter, referred to by air traffic control as PAT25, is flying south over the river. The skies are clear.

At 8:46, the controller radios the Black Hawk crew to say a passenger jet, referred to as CRJ, is at 1,200 feet (365 meters) and circling to Runway 33. The helicopter's pilots say they see the jet and ask to maintain visual separation — to fly closer than if the pilots didn't see the plane. Controllers approve the request.

At 8:47, 20 seconds before impact, the controller radios: ''PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight?'' while a conflict alarm sounds. Then, again: ''PAT25, pass behind the CRJ.'' The NTSB said the helicopter's recorder shows the pilots may never have heard that instruction.

One second later, the plane's crew gets a collision avoidance alert declaring ''Traffic! Traffic!''

A few seconds later, a crew member on the helicopter replies that the aircraft ''is in sight'' and again requests ''visual separation.''

After the plane descends past its last recorded altitude of 313 feet (95 meters), the pilots pull up the nose sharply in an evasive maneuver one second before impact.

In the ensuing hours and days, crews search the Potomac River for survivors.

Jan. 30

In the morning, President Donald Trump tells reporters there are no survivors. By midday, the bodies of all three soldiers in the helicopter have been recovered.

About 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) downriver, Dean Naujoks, who patrols the Potomac for the Waterkeeper Alliance, finds pages from the flight manual, a piece of the plane's cabin wall and dozens of sugar packets stamped with the American Airlines logo.

In the evening, the airplane's cockpit voice and flight data recorders are sent to the NTSB lab.

Officials announce the helicopter's black box has been recovered and the flight data is being reviewed, along with the actions of the military pilot and air traffic control.

By the afternoon, the remains of 41 people have been recovered.

The Army names two of the dead soldiers: Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, the crew chief; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland.

Feb. 1

Investigators say they are trying to decipher a discrepancy in the altitude data between the helicopter and the airliner. They hope the helicopter's black box can help reconcile the difference. The box is waterlogged, delaying data retrieval.

Feb. 2

Officials say the remains of 55 victims have been recovered. Salvage crews prepare to lift wreckage from the Potomac.

Feb. 3

Crews recover parts of the airliner as families gather along the Potomac.

Feb. 4

Authorities say the remains of all 67 victims have been recovered.

Feb. 5

Memorials for the victims begin. A flight attendant is remembered in North Carolina as a loving family member who loved his career.

Feb. 6

Crews finish removing major jet and helicopter components from the river. NTSB investigators examine the wreckage at a secure hangar.

Feb. 14

The NTSB offers another update that raises doubts about whether the helicopter pilots had accurate information about their altitude.

Investigators finish their work at the crash but continue interviewing, testing and examining the wreckage of both aircraft.

March 2

Some of figure skating's biggest stars raise $1.2 million in Washington for the victims' families. The victims included 28 members of the skating community, some of whom lived and trained in the Washington area. They died returning from a camp for elite junior skaters that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas' largest city.

Federal investigators recommend banning some helicopter flights near Reagan airport, saying the setup ''poses an intolerable risk.'' Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy adopted those recommendations.

Helicopters no longer will be ''threading the needle'' flying under landing planes, Duffy said.

The FAA also will use artificial intelligence to analyze airport data for similar dangers elsewhere. Duffy said the FAA should have recognized the hazards at Reagan airport earlier.

March 27

The acting head of the FAA told Congress the agency must do a better job of addressing safety risks.

''We have to identify trends, we have to get smarter about how we use data, and when we put corrective actions in place, we must execute them,'' said Chris Rocheleau, the agency's acting administrator at the time.

April 22

A federal review prompted by the collision reveals dangerous flying conditions at the Las Vegas airport and leads the FAA to impose new restrictions on helicopter flights around Harry Reid International Airport.

The agency says the changes cut Las Vegas collision alert numbers by 30%. Rocheleau promised to take additional actions in Las Vegas and at any other airport where the FAA identifies concerns.

May 5

The 12th Aviation Battalion pauses helicopter flights near the airport.

The unit had just begun a return to flight, with plans to gradually increase.

Two different airline jets were instructed by air traffic control to ''perform go-arounds'' because of a ''priority air transport'' helicopter.

May 8

Duffy announces a plan to overhaul the aging system air traffic controllers use. Parts still rely on floppy disks and are no longer made by the manufacturer.

The FAA has already committed more than $6 billion to the project. The agency upgraded some of the system to more modern connections. Peraton will oversee the rest of the overhaul.

July 30-Aug. 1

The NTSB questioned FAA, Army and airline officials over three days.

The hearings highlighted the helicopter's faulty altimeter and that the pilots' night vision goggles made spotting the plane harder.

It also became clear that controllers unsuccessfully warned the FAA years earlier about the dangers of helicopters in the crowded airspace around the nation's capital.

''Are you kidding me? Sixty-seven people are dead! How do you explain that? Our bureaucratic process?'' she said. ''Fix it. Do better.''

Jan. 27, 2026

Two days before the first anniversary of the crash, the NTSB holds a hearing to determine what led to the accident.

Several investigators testified for hours about the findings, and NTSB members seemed troubled over missed opportunities to correct issues in the years before the crash, including dozens of close calls in the year prior.

''Collectively, it sounds like pilots and individual controllers were ringing a bell saying something's dangerous, do something,'' Todd Inman said.

In a statement, the FAA said it has reduced hourly plane arrivals at Reagan from 36 to 30 and increased staff.