Black Hawk crew made two devastating mistakes seconds before crashing helicopter into airliner killing 67 people in DC
THE crew of the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the deadly DC air crash with a passenger plane made two key mistakes in the final seconds, a new report shows.
All 67 people onboard the two aircraft died when the American Airlines plane smashed into the chopper, which was in its flight path.
A bombshell new report has revealed that the pilot failed to follow her flight instructor’s warning just 15 seconds before the collision.
It was America’s deadliest air disaster since 2001, and helicopters have since been banned from flying in the airspace.
Piloting the helicopter was Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, who was on a training mission under instruction from Andrew Eaves.
Eaves urged Lobach to change course in order to avoid the looming plane, but that never happened, the New York Times reports.
In another error, officials said the pilots “stepped on” the air traffic controller’s instructions.
That means they accidentally cut him off by pressing the button to speak over the radio – and likely missed out on key information and warnings.
The pilots were already flying under riskier conditions after requesting to use their own visuals to avoid other traffic, instead of air traffic control’s.
This speeds things up, must increases the risk of human error.
Investigators believe that Eaves and Lobach failed to hear that the American Airlines plane was “circling” because one of the was pressing the microphone button to speak when the warning came through.
The air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it could see the descending plane just 20 seconds before the disaster.
He said: “PAT two-five, do you have the CRJ in sight?”
That was the last communication between the helicopter and ATC.
Finally, technology aboard the helicopter that would have allowed it to be tracked better by ATC was switched off.
This is common practice on real missions – but this was a practice.
Experts have long contested allowing pilots to navigate on their own – acknowledging human error is far more likely to cause disaster.
This is particularly true in busy airspaces, such as around Reagan Airport.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has since slammed the practice, and said it was like “threading a needle.”
The Army’s director of aviation, Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, said multiple factors had contributed to the catastrophe.
He said: “I think what we’ll find in the end is there were multiple things that, had any one of them changed, it could have well changed the outcome of that evening.”
According to the report, there was also confusion amongst the three pilots on board about the altitude they were flying at.
There is a 200-ft limit in place at the site of the crash, and the chopper was well above that.
The pilot can be heard on recordings announcing they were at 300 feet, while the instructor pilot cited 400 feet.
Data reveals its true altitude was 278 feet at the time of the crash.
However, the National Transportation Safety Board head Jennifer Homedy said: “That doesn’t mean that’s what the Black Hawk crew was seeing on the barometric altimeters in the cockpit.”
Regan airport has one of the busiest runways in the US, with more than 800 takeoffs most days.
Retired United Airlines pilot Captain Ross Aimer told the New York Post: “DCA is one of the most demanding airports in the world.
“It also has what’s known as ‘helicopter alley’ with hundreds of police, military, news and rescue helicopters criss-crossing the Potomac River – it’s crazy out there.”
It also emerged at least two other pilots reported near-misses with helicopters while landing at the airport in the three years before the deadly crash.
A passenger flight had to abort a landing at the airport just a day before the tragedy.
Republic Airways Flight 4514 was forced to back out of touching down and had to make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path, the Washington Post reported.
I watched as DC rescue teams fought through torrential rain to find remains in icy waters
From Senior Reporter Israel Salas-Rodriguez in Washington DC:
A recovery mission is still underway just several feet behind me here at the Potomac River in the Nation’s capital.
Divers have continued to scour through the waters searching for victims.
The unfathomable incident occurred late Wednesday evening when an American Airlines flight carrying 64 passengers and crew members, which originated from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a Black Hawk Army helicopter as the commercial airliner was making its descent into Reagan National Airport.
The horrific caught on camera incident sent shockwaves across the country.
Footage captured the mid-air collision that lit up the DC sky as remnants of both aircraft’s plunged into the icy Potomac river, leaving no survivors.
First responders have been working tirelessly, around the clock, pulling bodies and debris from the aircraft’s from the frigid waters.
The U.S. Sun was at Reagan National Airport on Thursday an hour after the airport reopened at 11 am.
Several travelers, hauling luggages, spoke to us and described how the incident left them uneasy as they waited to board their flight.
One concerned man described how he and his sister have been texting overnight, nonstop since her American Airlines flight from Arkansas was rerouted to NY because of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation and are working on determining what caused the crash that killed all 67 people aboard the American Airlines flight and Army helicopter.
So far, at least 41 bodies have reportedly been recovered.
At least 14 of the passengers aboard the American Airlines flight were renowned icy skaters and hopeful Olympians, who were returning home from a national Figure Ice Skating tournament in Wichita.
The athletes were members of various icy rinks in the DMV area and Boston.
The U.S. Sun spoke to several mourns outside Ashburn Ice Center on Thursday evening, many of whom were still visibly shaken by the tragedy.
Former ice hockey coach at Ashburn Wellesley Shomo coached at the facility for 3 years and played on the ice for another 20 years.
A heavy-hearted Wellesley remembered some of the coaches that died in the crash as “good people who dedicate hours to their craft.”
A 15-year-old girl and her mom arrived at Ashburn Ice Center with flowers in hand minutes before the ice center was set to close for the night on Thursday.
The emotional teen, who fought back tears, told us that some of her friends died in the crash, saying, “This is our rink. I’ve been skating here since I was 3. I’m just trying not to cry.”
President Trump said he and his team have “strong opinions and ideas” about what happened, but vowed to conduct a speedy investigation.