This week, federal investigators held three days of hearings that provided fresh insight into the fatal midair accident that occurred last January just outside of Washington, D.C., between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional plane.
The catastrophe claimed the lives of all 67 passengers on board the jet and the helicopter. It was the deadliest aviation mishap in decades in the United States.
These are a few of the most significant findings from the hearing held by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Army helicopter’s altimeter may have been wrong and that wasn’t unusual
The Black Hawk’s three-person crew was conducting a training trip at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, on the evening of January 29. They were traveling south down the Potomac River. In the meantime, a plane carrying 60 passengers, two pilots, and two flight attendants was heading toward the airport to land from Wichita, Kansas, operated by PSA Airlines.
Around 8:48 p.m. ET, the two planes crashed and fell into the icy river below.
Even though the Army helicopter shouldn’t have been flying higher than 200 feet on that section of the route, investigators claim the crash happened at a height of 278 feet. The Black Hawk pilots may not have realized their altitude since their barometric altimeter may have been showing the incorrect altitude, according to an earlier statement made by NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy.
Additionally, Army officials stated last week that such a large discrepancy in barometric altimeters was not uncommon.
According to U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Kylene Lewis, “in my experience, a difference of 80 feet or so between the radar altitude and the barometric altitude would not be cause for alarm,” they told investigators.
Barometric altimeters use air pressure to estimate altitude, whereas radar altimeters assess the distance between an aircraft and the ground.
Since Army helicopters occasionally fly close to civilian aircraft, NTSB member J. Todd Inman questioned Army officials and Sikorsky Aircraft, the company that makes Black Hawk helicopters, about why the barometric altimeters weren’t more precise.
“You just informed me that, I think, every piece of machinery used in this production process is safe. To what extent is that tolerance present? “What?” Inman inquired. “I think it should be zero.”
During the session, the military representatives stated that the Army is thinking of updating the flight manual to inform pilots of variations in altitude readings.
DCA air traffic controllers faced pressure to “make it work”
Air traffic controllers were expected to “make it work” at the crowded, complicated airport outside of Washington, D.C., according to investigators. On the night of the accident, this occasionally involved using a second runway for arrivals.
An NTSB investigator asked former DCA tower operations manager Clark Allen if “making it work” meant sacrificing safety, and he said, “You’re pushing the line.”
Air traffic controllers are in short supply nationwide, something the FAA is dealing with. However, DCA’s staffing was comparable to other facilities of a similar size, according to Nick Fuller, the acting deputy chief operations officer for the FAA.
At DCA tower, it was common for one controller to manage helicopter traffic while another kept an eye on fixed-wing aircraft. One controller was carrying out both of those responsibilities the night of the crash, something FAA officials stated was typical for the airport.
FAA staff had warned about the helicopter route, but the agency didn’t act
The proximity of the Army helicopter route to commercial flights landing at the airport had been a source of worry for FAA staff before to the disaster. Bravo Company of the 12th Aviation Battalion, based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, conducted training flights in the region pertaining to continuity-of-government operations and priority air transport.
A working group at the airport had examined the potential of relocating what was known as Route 4 or perhaps removing a portion of it, according to Allen, the former DCA tower operations manager. “And both of those options we were told we were unable to do due to continuity of government operations or security,” Allen continued.
Homendy attacked the FAA during the hearings for failing to address its employees’ safety concerns. “Are you serious? There are sixty-seven dead! How would you describe that? “Our administrative procedure?” she asked. “Repair it. Perform better.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy removed mixed traffic between helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, including commercial jets, and permanently limited non-essential helicopter operations around DCA in March. The NTSB recommended both measures.
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