A BAD radio transmission may have caused the horrific mid-air crash between a passenger plane and a military helicopter that killed 67, the National Transportation Safety Board has revealed.
Investigators discovered muffled messages and mismatched altitude readings after pulling data from the wreckage that plunged into the Potomac River in Washington DC on January 29.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy held a press conference on Friday and revealed what the agency has discovered while investigating the cause of the deadly crash.
She said the Black Hawk didn’t receive a crucial message sent just 17 seconds before it slammed into the American Airlines flight.
A Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport air traffic controller had urgently asked the Black Hawk pilot to “pass behind the” plane, but that message wasn’t heard on recordings recovered from the chopper’s flight data systems. It’s believed the Black Hawk crew’s microphone key was pressed at that exact moment.
“That transmission was interrupted – it was stepped on,” she said, adding they may have never heard the words “pass behind the.”
The pilots also could have missed the tower saying the American Airlines jet was shifting to a different runway.
The Black Hawk was on a mandatory annual training mission to test Army pilots’ night flying skills.
The crew was wearing night vision goggles and using instruments for flight readings.
At another point before the crash, the pilot reported to the controller that they were flying at 300 feet while the instructing pilot said the helicopter was at 400.
“At this time, we don’t know why there was a discrepancy between the two,” Homendy said.
The NTSB is still investigating whether the helicopter pilots were getting inaccurate readings.
“We are looking at the possibility there may be bad data,” she said.
The agency restricted helicopter activity around the airport after the crash and they’re now looking at whether this change should be permanent.
Friday’s update came just over a week after Senator Ted Cruz, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, claimed a key safety system on the Black Hawk was turned off.
The NTSB declined to comment on the claim at the time.
The board still insists that US air travel is impeccably safe.
HORROR TRAGEDY
Washington DC’s ink-black waters and frigid temperatures left passengers with little chance of survival and the rescue mission quickly turned into a recovery operation.
Brave crews spent days diving through razor-sharp metal debris as they pulled bodies from the river and identified the victims.
The crash took place in “helicopter alley,” which earned its name from being a pre-approved route for Army missions.
Children, world-class athletes, and a group of hunting buddies were all on the plane that came crashing into a deadly spiral.
A large portion of the flight from Wichita, Kansas, was coming from the US National Championships for ice skating.
Teen skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane boarded the plane with their mothers and their coaches – Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Little sisters Alydia and Everly Livingston, who were 11 and 14 years old, were also on the doomed flight.
Another victim, 30-year-old Kiah Duggins, was a former Miss Kansas contestant and Harvard Law graduate who previously worked as an intern for Michelle Obama.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13547877/washington-dc-crash-update-black-hawk-helicopter/