The cabin crew of PSA Airlines Flight 5342 prepared the plane for landing.
Sixty passengers had taken the two-hour, 45-minute flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, DC.
Among them were young figure skaters returning from a national championship and a development camp, accompanied by their parents and coaches.
American Airlines, which owns PSA, operates this route six times a week.
But as the CRJ 700 aircraft descended into DC, disaster struck.
As it was preparing to land, a Sikorsky H-60 military helicopter using the call-sign PAT25 was also flying south along the Potomac River.
The Black Hawk helicopter had come from Fort Belvoir in Virginia on an annual training exercise, one that reportedly saw it flying directly in the landing path of the passenger plane.
Recordings from the air traffic control frequency reveal the events leading up to the deadliest US air crash in more than two decades.
About 8:45pm Wednesday, local time, the PSA Airlines flight is approaching the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, 6 kilometres south of the airport.
Air traffic controllers tell the flight to prepare to land at runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Air traffic control: "[PSA Airlines flight] 5342 at the [Woodrow] Wilson Bridge… runway 33 cleared for landing"
About 50 seconds later, the helicopter gives its location saying it is passing over the Arlington Memorial Bridge near the Lincoln Memorial, about 4 kilometres north of the airport.
Thirty seconds after this, air traffic controllers check in with the helicopter, telling it to be aware of the PSA flight from Witchita — referred to as CRJ — that is descending to land at the airport.
Air traffic control: PAT25, traffic just south of the [Woodrow] Wilson Bridge, CRJ is [ at an altitude of 366 metres], setting up for runway 33.
The helicopter confirms it has the plane in sight, requesting to keep at a safe distance by visually observing the plane. Air traffic control gives it the go ahead.
Helicopter: PAT25 has the traffic in sight, request visual separation.
Air traffic control: Visual separation approved.
Flight path trackers show the PSA Airlines flight continuing its descent, banking left across the Potomac River towards Runway 33, and into the path of the helicopter.
Fifty-two seconds pass.
At about 8:48pm, air traffic control again checks in with the helicopter, asking if it can see the PSA Airlines flight, and requests the helicopter give the CRJ room to land.
Air traffic control: PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ.
At some stage in the next 15 seconds, the two aircraft collide.
A stationary camera placed at the Kennedy Center further up the river captures the moment of impact, a fireball erupting in the night sky above the US capital.
Alarms begin sounding in the background of the air traffic control recording, as one controller in the background exclaims "Oh!"
Over the next four minutes, the air traffic control frequency is a flurry of activity.
Controllers immediately begin diverting incoming aircraft, sending some to a nearby airport in Baltimore while telling others to land immediately.
By 8:52pm, the air traffic controllers have begun asking nearby aircraft if they are able to help.
Air traffic control: "Are you able to assist with the search and rescue?"
Nearby aircraft: "Negative, we're not a search and rescue asset but we're able to help out with whatever you need, we got plenty of fuel"
Air traffic control: "Do you have any kind of like search light or anything on board that would help get some light at the east end of the field?"
Nearby aircraft: "We're able to search."
But by the time dawn broke on Thursday, local time, authorities announced the rescue mission had become a recovery mission.
At least 28 victim bodies recovered so far
Search and rescue teams are combing the icy waters of the Potomac River after the deadly collision between the passenger jet and the military helicopter.
US officials confirmed there were no survivors — 64 people on the plane and three crew on the helicopter had perished.
Families waited in the airport terminal for loved ones who would never arrive.
"[My wife] texted me that she was landing in 20 minutes," Hamaad Raza told local CBS affiliate WUSA.
"The rest of my text didn't … did not get delivered. That's when I realised that something might be up.
"I'm just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now."
It makes it the deadliest US plane crash since November 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed into a residential area in New York, killing 260 people.
[map]So far, at least 28 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River.
The three soldiers on the helicopter are among them, according to US officials.
The search for the remaining plane passengers continues.
The US Department of Homeland Security said every "available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue" has been deployed to join other agencies involved in the search.
"We are actively monitoring the situation & stand ready to support local responders," Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security said on social media platform X.
The coastguard is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy's Supervisor of Salvage and Diving to coordinate removing the wreckage and keeping river traffic out of the area until it becomes safe.
American Airlines has also set up centres in Washington and Wichita, Kansas, for people searching for information about family members.
Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly believed all those lost would be recovered but stressed that it might take some time.
The investigations announced since the crash
Several investigations into the cause of the crash have been launched as the US aviation sector faces scrutiny.
The US National Transportation Safety Board said it intended to publish a preliminary report within 30 days.
"We don't have a lot of information now," NTSB investigator Brice Banning told a press conference.
"We do not know enough facts to be able to rule in or out human factors, mechanical factors. That is part of the NTSB investigative process."
Chair of the NTSB Jennifer Homendy said at a press conference: "We look at facts on our investigation and that will take some time."
The US Department of Defense is also investigating the crash.
Secretary Pete Hegseth said a "fairly experienced" crew was on the army chopper.
