On the night of January 29, 2025, the Potomac River was black glass under a cold winter moon. An American Airlines CRJ‑700, Flight 5342, came sliding down the invisible chute on final approach toward Runway 33 at Reagan National Airport. A U.S. Army Sikorsky UH‑60L Black Hawk was climbing in the opposite direction, slicing through the air on a training evaluation run.

They met in the dark at a little less than 300 feet. Impact was a flash and a thunderclap. The rotors caught the jet’s nose like a giant scythe, tearing its aluminum skin and obliterating the cockpit in a spray of glass and aviation fuel. The fuselage split, yawing sideways into an unnatural angle that promised no survivors. The Black Hawk’s blades shredded themselves into a mess of titanium and fiberglass shrapnel, sending

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