Video has been released showing the terrifying moment an airliner and Black Hawk helicopter collided in a crash that killed 67 people. 

The animation was shared Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as the authority published its findings into the disaster two days shy of its one-year anniversary. 

The crash involving an American Airlines flight and a helicopter on January 29, 2025 over Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC was the deadliest commercial aviation accident in the US in almost 25 years. 

The visual simulation showed the view from inside the cockpit of the American Airlines jet in the moments before it collided with the military helicopter. 

It showed pilots were dealing with dark skies and were landing with the help of night-vision, with air traffic controllers appearing to not warn the pilots they were on course to hit the helicopter. 

The helicopter appeared suddenly to the left of the plane’s windshield, hitting the jet in a flash and without offering any time for the pilots to swerve out of the way. 

In its findings shared this week, the NTSB presented evidence that ‘individual errors’ contributed to the tragedy, however board members stressed that ‘no singular person is to blame for this – these were systemic issues across multiple organizations.’ 

The NTSB has said in its year-long investigation that a poorly designed helicopter route past the airport, the Black Hawk helicopter flying 78 feet higher than it should have been, and the Army’s decision to turn off a system that would have broadcast the helicopter’s location more clearly as primary reasons for the crash. 

A terrifying animation has revealed a pilots-eye view of the tragic mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people in January 2025

The crash on January 29, 2025 over the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC was the deadliest commercial aviation accident in the US in almost 25 years

In the hearing on Tuesday, board member Todd Inman acknowledged the families of many of the victims present at the hearing, and warned that presenting the findings ‘will not be an easy day.’ 

ABC reported that several groups of people were escorted out of the room crying when the animation of the flights was shown. 

In the animation from the American Airlines cockpit, observers were shown the perspective of the right-seat view where First Officer Sam Lilley was seated. 

Investigators say Lilley had the best position to see the helicopter, even though Captain Jonathan Campos was flying the jet at the time. 

The animation revealed grey ‘masked’ areas, showing parts of the cockpit that blocked the pilot’s view outside the aircraft – with bright lights from Washington DC also confusing the view. 

Investigators say the visuals highlight how difficult it would have been for the airline pilots to avoid the collision, and the NTSB has cited cockpit blind spots and ground lighting from the city as primary causes of the crash. 

The NTSB also said the American Airlines flight made a left turn to line up with the runway at Ronald Reagan Airport, which put it on a collision course with the helicopter approaching from its right. 

The crash in January 2025 killed all 64 passengers and crew on board the American Airlines jet and all three soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter 

In the animation from the American Airlines cockpit, observers were shown the perspective of the right-seat view where First Officer Sam Lilley was seated – who investigators said had the best position to see the helicopter before impact 

Captain Jonathan Campos was flying the jet at the time, and the animation showed he had no time to swerve out of the way of the helicopter when it abruptly came into view 

Audio from the cockpit also revealed that ‘no safety alerts’ were given to the pilots, Nick Fuller, the acting FAA deputy chief operating officer of operations, testified in August. 

In earlier testimony over the summer, it was also acknowledged that the Army decided not to use anti-collision technology known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, on its Black Hawk helicopter, which could have prevented the collision. 

On the fateful flight on January 29, 2025, the Black Hawk was following an FAA memorandum that allowed it to be turned off, investigators said. 

In a previous hearing, the FAA also admitted that the air traffic control tower failed to properly warn the regional jet pilots of helicopter traffic in its airspace. 

The NTSB also presented ‘major discrepancies’ in the altitude readouts on the helicopter that could have led the soldiers on board to believe they were flying lower over the Potomac River than they actually were, reports CNN. 

At Tuesday’s hearing, the NTSB said this practice was ‘commonplace’ at the time, and the policy has since been updated so local control and helicopter control positions are no longer combined for air traffic control.  

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in her opening remarks that observers ‘will see that we left no stone unturned’ to uncover all causes of the crash

The NTSB has said in its year-long investigation that a poorly designed helicopter route past the airport, the Black Hawk helicopter flying 78 feet higher than it should have been, and the Army’s decision to turn off a system that would have broadcast the helicopter’s location more clearly as primary reasons for the crash

NTSB board member Michael Graham told the hearing: ‘This has been an incredibly difficult year for our agency and our investigators, first responders to this accident, and the aviation community as a whole. 

‘We mourn the loss of 67 lives nearly one year ago from an accident in a tragedy that never, ever should have happened.’ 

Graham said the hearings, which will last several days, will likely acknowledge difficult realities over who is to blame for the disaster, which killed all 64 people on the American Airlines plane and three soldiers in the helicopter. 

‘There will be some times where individual errors may be noted throughout the course of the day in relation to this accident,’ the NTSB official said. 

‘To make it crystal clear, any individual shortcomings were set up for failure by the systems around them. 

‘We are not here today to place blame on any individual or any organization, but we are here to ensure those systems that failed to protect 67 people on January 29, 2025 never fail again.’  

Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) made a number of changes to ensure helicopters and planes no longer share the airspace above Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington DC. 

Last week, the changes were made permanent by the NTSB, which will recommend additional action at the conclusion of its hearings into the crash – including permanently restricting helicopters in the airspace. 

Rachel Feres, who lost her cousin Peter Livingston and his wife and two young daughters in the crash, said at the hearing: ‘I hope that we see a clear path through the recommendations they offer to ensure that this never happens again.

‘That nobody else has to wake up to hear that an entire branch of their family tree is gone, or their wife is gone or the child is gone. That’s what I hope coming out of this. I hope we have clarity and urgency,’ she said. 

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in her opening remarks that observers ‘will see that we left no stone unturned’ to uncover all causes of the crash. 

‘We asked the hard, uncomfortable questions that ruffled feathers and we got to the truth,’ she said. 

Homendy added that there ‘is a tendency in the immediate aftermath of any investigation or any accident that we investigate to question human error, the actions or inactions of individuals.’

‘However, human error in complex systems like our modern aviation system and the National Airspace System isn’t a cause. It’s a consequence,’ she said.