How did the DC crash happen? Experts reveal what may have caused deadly collision

WASHINGTON — A short runway and intersecting flight paths with precariously close altitude requirements may have played a role in Wednesday night’s deadly collision of an American Airlines plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport, experts told The Post.Officials have not yet provided any causal information behind the crash — the deadliest aviation disaster in the US in more than two decades — but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday that the tragedy was “absolutely” preventable.The Post spoke to several aviation experts about a number of factors that may have contributed to the fatal collision.Originally built to shuffle VIPs into the nation’s capital on private or government jets, Reagan is a smaller airport and the only one physically in the District.With a runway nearly half as long as the standard 13,000-foot runways of other airports built to accommodate large commercial jets, landing is tricky for incoming planes, according to former DC-based American Airlines pilot John Wright.“The first few times you fly there, you usually are with [a fellow pilot] who’s really experienced.He’s kind of talking through it, too,” Wright told The Post.

“Where you land on [runways] that are 13,000 feet long, you’ve got plenty of room to play with.But at [Reagan] it’s only 7,000 feet.”The shorter runway makes the descent difficult, creating the need for pilots to be intensely focused, he said.Air traffic controller audio captured operators warning the military helicopter that it was getting close to American Airlines Flight 5342 and directing it to pass behind the passenger plane, which would have had the right of way for the trickier landing.“It’s such a challenging airport to land a jet airplane at your focus is really on your airspeed, your altitude, your rate of descent,” he said, adding that “the last thing you’re looking for is to see if somebody’s crossing in your path.”Still, h...