Six months later: Here are the victims of the Washington, D.C. plane crash

It was just 6 months ago, *** flight that was supposed to land here at Ronald Reagan National Airport from Wichita, Kansas crashed over the Potomac River, killing 67 people, with many questions still unanswered. We're discovering near misses are still happening across the country, and the situations are unnerving. The sight hard to forget the moment American Airlines Flight 5342 and *** US Black Hawk helicopter collided midair over the Potomac River, which makes recent near misses harder to understand. It was chaos. There was screaming. 8 to 12th drop of free fall. Last Friday, *** midair scare between *** Southwest airplane and *** decommissioned fighter jet after taking off from Burbank, California. Minutes after takeoff, the commercial airline was forced to drop hundreds of feet to avoid the jet, leaving 2 people injured. Earlier this month, *** military plane interrupted the landing of *** flight from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota. The airline's pilot apologizing for the aggressive maneuver to avoid *** collision over the intercom. I don't know why they didn't give up. The Air Force base does have radar and nobody said there's also *** pilots are encouraged but not required to report near misses in the aviation safety reporting system. Our Hurst television data team pulled those reports, analyzing them specifically for near miss events between. *** commercial airplane and other piloted aircraft during landing or takeoff. Essentially the same scenario as the DC collision. We found that in the 3 months right after the deadly crash, 26 near misses were reported around the country. Of those, just over 40% involved the helicopter. Some of the pilots specifically mentioning the frightening tragedy over the Potomac River. One pilot writing quote, this event has many disturbing similarities to the recent midair collision in DCA. With pilots continuing to sound the alarm on near misses in the air. Family members of the deceased are now banding together, holding meetings and calling for accountability. One of the things that uh myself and uh several other cousins, uh. took away from these family briefings was that *** lot of change needed to happen uh to ensure safer skies for all of us, and that no other families had to ever go through something like this again. Since the tragedy, families of the victims have visited DC 3 times advocating for change. Helicopter flight paths around the airport have been changed as well. Currently the FAA is investigating other airports around the country to determine if there are other areas with congested airspace where there needs to be changed to avoid another tragedy. Reporting in Washington DC, I'm national investigative correspondent John Carinelli.

Updated: 1:13 PM CDT Jul 29, 2025

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Six months later: Here are the victims of the Washington, D.C. plane crash

Updated: 1:13 PM CDT Jul 29, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

They were mothers, fathers, friends, pilots, lawyers, hunters, coaches and figure skaters. Their ages ranged from 11 to 69. They were visiting family, traveling on work trips and returning home.These are the 67 people who died in the Jan. 29, 2025 collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport. There were 60 passengers on the American Airlines flight, four crew members and three soldiers on board the Black Hawk army helicopter.Click on each image below to learn more about the victims. If an image of the victim was not available at the time of publication, pictured is a photo of the temporary memorial that was erected near Reagan National Airport following the crash. Four victims still have not been publicly identified, and the National Transportation Safety Board denied Hearst Television’s request for the full passenger list. In the six months since the plane crash, several families of the victims have joined together to advocate for safer skies. They've developed a list of seven reform goals , including increased funding for air traffic control systems and a comprehensive review of Reagan National Airport's complex airspace. The family advocacy group has visited Washington, D.C. three times to advocate for safer skies. Amy Hunter, cousin of the late Peter Livingston, is part of that group. Livingston, his wife Donna and his two girls Everly and Alydia were on the plane returning from the U.S. Figure Skating National Development camp in Wichita, Kansas.“One of the things that myself and several other cousins took away from these family briefings was that a lot of change needed to happen to ensure safer skies for all of us and that no other families will have to ever go through something like this again,” Hunter said.Initha Selvakumar contributed to this reporting.

ARLINGTON, Va. —

They were mothers, fathers, friends, pilots, lawyers, hunters, coaches and figure skaters. Their ages ranged from 11 to 69. They were visiting family, traveling on work trips and returning home.

These are the 67 people who died in the Jan. 29, 2025 collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

There were 60 passengers on the American Airlines flight, four crew members and three soldiers on board the Black Hawk army helicopter.

Click on each image below to learn more about the victims. If an image of the victim was not available at the time of publication, pictured is a photo of the temporary memorial that was erected near Reagan National Airport following the crash.

Four victims still have not been publicly identified, and the National Transportation Safety Board denied Hearst Television’s request for the full passenger list.

In the six months since the plane crash, several families of the victims have joined together to advocate for safer skies. They've developed a list of , including increased funding for air traffic control systems and a comprehensive review of Reagan National Airport's complex airspace.

The family advocacy group has visited Washington, D.C. three times to advocate for safer skies.

Amy Hunter, cousin of the late Peter Livingston, is part of that group. Livingston, his wife Donna and his two girls Everly and Alydia were on the plane returning from the U.S. Figure Skating National Development camp in Wichita, Kansas.

“One of the things that myself and several other cousins took away from these family briefings was that a lot of change needed to happen to ensure safer skies for all of us and that no other families will have to ever go through something like this again,” Hunter said.

Initha Selvakumar contributed to this reporting.

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