The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed that the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines passenger jet on January 29th was flying higher than its allowable altitude of 200 feet.
An Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high when it crashed into an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC last week, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Tuesday.
Data from air traffic control radar showed the military chopper was flying at 300 feet on the air traffic control display at the time of the fiery Jan. 29 crash, according to the NTSB.
The maximum altitude for helicopters in the area — which is also a flight path of jets going into and out of Reagan — is 200 feet.
The radar data is rounded to the nearest 100 feet, the NTSB said — meaning the helicopter could have been anywhere between 251 feet and 349 feet of elevation.
The helicopter and its three-man crew were on a training flight, refresher training for the unusual restrictions placed on rotary-wing craft in that area, near Reagan International Airport and the District of Columbia.
The chopper, which was carrying three soldiers, was conducting a training mission to re-qualify the pilots for future flights in the area – something they’d done several times before, according to deputy director of aviation for the Army Col. Mark Ott.
The helicopter’s wreckage is, as of this writing, still in the Potomac River. It will be recovered later this week and will be examined by the NTSB and the Army. The investigation is ongoing; the flight recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 and the flight recorder from the Black Hawk have been recovered and are being evaluated.
The American Airlines crew, according to flight data, detected the helicopter and tried to evade it at the last minute.
The passenger plane was flying at 325 feet when the crash occured — and pilots tried to pull up to avoid the collision at the last moment, according to data from the Bombardier CRJ700’s black box.
The plane had been cleared to land at DCA.
The chopper, which was carrying three soldiers, was conducting a training mission to re-qualify the pilots for future flights in the area – something they’d done several times before, according to deputy director of aviation for the Army Col. Mark Ott.
Officials, in coordination with the Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, have recovered most of the plane from the frigid Potomac River, according to the NTSB.
What’s not yet clear is why the helicopter was at the wrong altitude. The altimeter could have been incorrectly set. Many aircraft altimeters operate by measuring air pressure and have to be set to the ambient air pressure before takeoff. It’s unclear what manner of altimeter the Black Hawk had.
Previously on RedState: NTSB Provides Update on Investigation Into Mid-Air Collision at DCA
NEW: What the Latest, Shocking Video of the DCA Mid-Air Collision Appears to Show
As of this writing, all 67 bodies have been recovered. Sixty-six have been positively identified.
This remains a developing story. We will monitor developments and bring you updates as events warrant.
