During the three days of investigative hearing, the National Board of National Transport and Safety demanded to collect more information about the factors that lead Deadly midar collision Washington, DC, in January between an army helicopter and a passenger aircraft.
NTSB heard testimony from air traffic controllers, federal aviation administration and army, and families of several victims participated. On the first day of the hearing, at a point, NTSB President Jennifer Homendi said about the leading circumstances for the accident, “Every sign was there that there was a safety risk.” Addressing the families, he said that the hearing “would be an important part of our ongoing investigation.”
On 29 January, A Black Hawk Helicopter Wichita took a flying from Kansas to an American airlines, as it was coming to landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing everyone 67 people Riding on both aircraft.
NTSB will continue its fact discovery and compile a final report with a possible reason, determination of the potential cause within the next year.
Here are the top takeaways from hearing:
Height measurements of helicopter showed significant discrepancies
According to NTSB investigators, members of the Black Hawk Crew may have given them false information, as the crew were less than the height that the helicopters were flying, on which the crew was called.
The helicopter and commercial airliner collided about 300 feet above the Potomac River, and the maximum height for helicopters in that part of the route near DC’s Reagan Airport is 200 feet.
NTSB, as part of its investigation, tested three helicopters, in the same battalion, who crashed and found that the barometric ultimeter for the three was closed from 80 to 130 feet. Army representatives told investigators on Wednesday that the discrepancy is within accepted variability as pilots are trained to maintain their height at plus or minus 100 feet.
NTSB President Jennifer Homendi told CBS News Senior Transport Correspondent Chris Van Cleave that NTSB calculated the margin of error on Route four in that area of Potomac.
The army stated that it is doing additional review to determine how to move forward, the disappointing investigators asked why it would not change the equipment, based on the findings of NTSB tests.
In 2022, an FAA Working Group considered the helicopter traffic away from the airport, but did not eventually.
Airplane pilots knew they were going to be a hit
Tapes of the Cockpit Voice Records of the airplane suggest that pilots received an automatic oral warning about traffic in the surrounding area about 20 seconds before the collision. Less than two seconds before the effect, the pilot shouted in the alarm. Flight data indicates that the aircraft pilots attempted to climb to the helicopter just before the effect.
The tape suggests that the American Airlines flight pilots questioned the move of the runway 33. The aircraft was originally landed on runway 1, but was redirected by air traffic controllers to runway 33. As it was trying to land on that runway, the helicopter and aircraft collided.
Black Hawk Pilot missed out on major command with air traffic controller
According to a transport issued during the hearing of the conversation between the helicopter crew and the control tower, the black hawk pilots missed a major term while communicating with the air traffic control tower.
Fifteen seconds before the collision, DCA Tower asked the helicopter if it had a regional jet vision. Four seconds later, the DCA Tower directed the helicopter to pass behind the aircraft. Black Hawk’s cockpit voice recorder indicated that the phrase “pass back” was provided as an inaccessible because a helicopter crew member pressed the microphone key.
The FAA admitted that the Air Traffic Controller did not warn the airliner that the helicopter could cross its way
Although it was already known – based on the control tower audio from that night – that the controller did not warned the American airlines aircraft that Black Hawk could cross its way, the FAA only admitted it openly for the first time during this week’s hearing.
In a vital moment from the second day, Hamendi asked Nick Fuller, Executive Director of FAA Air Traffic Oversite service, whether a traffic advice or alert aircraft was released. He replied, “No safety alert.”
Homendi then asked, “Should the local controller go to go [plane] Crew knows that there was a helicopter there? ,
“Yes,” Fuller replied.
Medi Pilot said that the presence of military helicopters in the airspace of the national airport makes them “uncomfortable”
Rick Dressers of Metro Aviation – who operate medical helicopters – were asked if there are units flying in the airport airspace that make them uncomfortable.
“I don’t like to say that first Haley’s [U.S. Air Force] From Andrews (Air Base) and I do not like to say that the 12th Aviation Battalion gives us all breaks in the community … “The dresser said, but” We are all very uncomfortable when they operate two units. ,
During the hearing, the army admitted that helicopters regularly flew down from flights landing at Reagan National Airport.
