Specialists ask why Black Hawk helicopter might have been flying above allowed altitude earlier than crash

The army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed right into a passenger aircraft close to Reagan Nationwide Airport Wednesday seems to have been flying above the permitted altitude, publicly accessible flight knowledge analyzed by CBS Information exhibits.

This knowledge level is one among a number of key mysteries investigators are exploring as they search to elucidate what precipitated the nation’s worst air catastrophe in additional than a decade, aviation specialists stated.

“That is the $64 million query that must be answered,” stated Greg Feith, a former senior air security investigator with the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, in an interview with CBS Information. 

The permitted flight ceiling on the Potomac River close to Reagan Nationwide Airport is 200 ft – an important ceiling for preserving the heavy stream of army helicopters safely away from the regular industrial plane site visitors into and out of the nation’s capital.

Knowledge from FlightRadar24, which tracks and data plane knowledge for many flights throughout the U.S., confirmed the helicopter’s final estimated altitude was about 400 ft when it crashed. The jet’s altitude was about 375 to 400 ft, in accordance with knowledge from FlightAware and FlightRadar24.

“They’re army pilots; they’re aware of the routes,” Feith stated. “Why is it on today, on that flight, they have been [as much as] 150 to 200 ft larger than they knew they need to be?”

Steven B. Wallace, a former director of accident investigations for the Federal Aviation Administration, instructed CBS Information he believes investigators will direct consideration to the altitude of the Black Hawk.

“I do not wish to speculate on the trigger, however I can speculate what is going on by way of the thoughts of the investigators,” Wallace stated. “I believe that could be very possible going to be the main focus.”

Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth stated the investigation is inspecting if the plane was on the proper altitude on the time. NTSB investigators haven’t to date disclosed the helicopter’s altitude of their briefings, and stated their working teams will consider “pre-impact course and altitude.”

The Military helicopter’s deviation above the flight ceiling is one among a number of related close to collisions involving helicopters at Reagan Nationwide that date again greater than a decade.

A close to midair collision between an airplane and a helicopter in July 2015 occurred 400 ft off the bottom on strategy to the identical runway being utilized in Wednesday’s crash – Runway 33 — in accordance with a CBS Information Knowledge Staff evaluation of nameless reviews to NASA’s Aviation Security Reporting System. 

The pilot’s report stated the plane “got here inside very shut contact of one other plane.”

“This occurred about 400 ft off the bottom to the purpose the place the pilot monitoring needed to take the controls to make a correction with a view to stop it from changing into a midair collision,” the 2015 report stated.

Two years earlier, in Could of 2013, a pilot reported issues with a helicopter whereas circling to land on Runway 33. That may be a shorter runway supposed for smaller plane, like American Airways 5342. Pilots who land there instructed CBS Information they wish to be on the “flooring,” or lowest altitude throughout their strategy as a result of they should hit the start of the runway to have most distance to cease. 

“As we continued our strategy; Tower instructed the helicopter to ‘make a proper 360 for a jet on a 2 mile ultimate for Runway 33; and to report him in sight,” the pilot wrote. 

“The Tower then requested the helicopter if he had us in sight. He replied ‘sure’; and the Tower instructed him to keep up visible separation,” the report stated. “As we started our flip from base to ultimate; the helicopter made what regarded like a proper flip straight into our flight path.”

The pilot reported having to execute a tough proper flip and abort the strategy to keep away from a collision. “I am undecided how shut we got here to the helicopter because it was on the left aspect of the plane; however I’d guess it was only some hundred ft,” the report stated.

CBS Information’ evaluation of the NASA security knowledge recognized at the least 9 close to midair collisions on the airport since 2005, together with three involving helicopters.

Feith stated he believes investigators from the NTSB and the army will likely be inspecting the altimeters within the helicopter to see in the event that they malfunctioned, checking for any wind affect that would have hindered the pilot’s skill to carry the helicopter at 200 ft, and exploring whether or not or not the crew ought to have been utilizing night time imaginative and prescient goggles.

He stated the flight recorders on each plane will likely be useful in figuring out what occurred. Authorities reported that that they had been recovered from the Potomac River on Thursday.

“If that they had been at 200 ft, there would not have been a problem as a result of the aircraft sometimes would’ve been 400 to 500 ft off the bottom,” Feith stated. “These two RJ [regional jet] pilots did not know what hit them till the helicopter hit them.”