Air traffic controller reported seeing a ‘fireball’ when American Airlines jet collided with helicopter near Reagan Airport:

Audio from Air Traffic Control captures the moment the flight safety agency reported the horrific mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Blackhawk military helicopter.

“It was probably out in the middle river. I just saw a fireball and then it was gone,” the air traffic controller can be heard on audio shared on X.

“I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was CRJ and a helicopter that hit, I would say, maybe a half mile off the approach into 33,” the controller says in a call to Fire Command.

According to the controller, the commercial flight carrying 60 passengers from Wichita, Kansas was scheduled to land on runway 33 of Washington, DC’s Reagan National Airport — with the crash happening as the plane was minutes away from landing.