Does flight path data on a map prove that Flight 5342 suddenly reversed direction before fatally crashing into the Potomac River? No, that's not true: The reversal shown in a clip streamed by global flight tracking service Flightradar24 was due to a "jump" in data. That was caused by the program switching between data sources, a company spokesperson told Lead Stories.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on January 29, 2025, with a caption that read:
Crazy to think this is #AA5342. You can see it out of nowhere revert back to the middle of the river and the most terrifying is when it falls off the map at the end of the video. Hopefully this video can help the search and rescue. @DCPoliceDept @NTSB using @flightradar24
This is how the post looked on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken Thu Jan 30 07:08:02 2025 UTC)
The post included a 37-second clip of live air traffic data (archived here) published by global flight tracking service Flightradar24 (archived here). A video of that is visible here (archived here).
The clip shared to X genuinely showed the aircraft, American Airlines' subsidiary American Eagle, operated by PSA Airlines, en route to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., before it seemingly changed direction.
Flightradar24 commented (archived here) on the post the same day, explaining that the seeming reversal was due to a change in data:
The change in direction is an adjustment as the flight switches between ADS-B and third-party data sources close to the airport. As those sources have a different timing and calibration, the aircraft icon in playback can appear to 'jump.'
Ian Petchenik, director of communications at Flightradar24, said in a January 30, 2025, email to Lead Stories that:
ADS-B data is transmitted directly from the aircraft. The third-party data is derived from multiple official sources that are used to calculate the position of the aircraft. These two sources of data can differ due to the way data is calculated and also the period of time it takes to reach our service.
Flightradar24 aggregates available flight data to estimate the direction and path of an aircraft, according to its website (archived here):
Flightradar24 is a global flight tracker that shows live air traffic from around the world. Flightradar24 combines data from several data sources including ADS-B, MLAT, satellite, and radar data. This positional data is aggregated with schedule and flight status data from airlines and airports to create a unique flight tracking experience on www.flightradar24.com and in the Flightradar24 app available for iOS and Android.
The company notes that these estimates can be projections:
When an aircraft is flying out of coverage, Flightradar24 will estimate the position of the aircraft for up to 4 hours if the destination of the flight is known. For aircraft without a known destination, positions are estimated for up to 10 minutes. The position is calculated based on many different parameters and in most cases it's quite accurate, but for long flights the position can in worst cases be up to about 200 km (110 miles) off.
Flightradar24 uses government-regulated ADS-B systems to show real-time air traffic data. That's one of several data sources the company uses.
ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, a system that gives an aircraft's three-dimensional positioning. The Federal Aviation Administration describes (archived here) ADS-B as an:
... advanced surveillance technology that combines an aircraft's positioning source, aircraft avionics, and a ground infrastructure to create an accurate surveillance interface between aircraft and ATC [air traffic control] ADS-B is a performance-based surveillance technology that is more precise than radar and consists of two different services: ADS-B Out and ADS-B In.
ADS-B Out works by broadcasting information about an aircraft's GPS location, altitude, ground speed and other data to ground stations and other aircraft, once per second.
Flightradar24 published the data (archived here) on its website following the collision. It read in part:
At approximately 20:48 local time on 29 January (01:48 UTC) a PSA Airlines CRJ-700 (N709PS) operating for American Airlines as flight AA5342 and a US military H60 helicopter collided near Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA). The last position received from the CRJ via ADS-B was 38.843840, -77.026550 at 01:48:03 UTC. The helicopter was not broadcasting ADS-B data.
AA5342 was en route from Wichita (ICT) to Washington (DCA) with 60 passengers and four (4) crew members and was on final approach for Runway 33 at an approximate altitude of 300 feet AMSL when the two aircraft collided. ATC audio captured by LiveATC.net records the air traffic controllers interacting with a helicopter call sign PAT25 moments before the collision. The PAT call sign is generally used by US military VIP transport aircraft, including the H60. The controller can be heard asking PAT25 if it has the CRJ in sight and then issuing a command to the helicopter. Seconds later the two aircraft collide and audible gasps are heard in the control tower.
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More Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning the Flight 5342 plane and helicopter crash can be found here.
