18 minutes | Thursday, 30 January 2025
American Airlines flight 5342 was preparing to land on runway 33 at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last night when it collided with a military helicopter. There were no survivors - how could such a tragedy happen? On this episode, Niall Paterson is joined by former Royal Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bell to look at what might have led to the mid-air collision. Niall also speaks to Dr Michael McCormick, a US air traffic control expert who has developed policies for commercial aircraft to operate in the same airspace as the military. Producers: Soila Apparicio, Natalie Ktena Editor: Wendy Parker