Data found from the aircraft of the American Airlines and the crash of the army helicopter in DC, revealed an important discrepancy in their height values that can offer an explanation for the tragedy that killed 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board showed that preliminary data from the Black Hawk -Helikopter and passenger jet showed conflicting lectures on their heights at the time of the catastrophic collision.
Data from the flying recorder of the passenger jet showed his height as 325 feet, plus or at least 25 feet, when the crash happened on Wednesday evening. However, data in the control tower showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet at that time.
The discrepancy of 100 feet still has to be explained, but if the impact were to take place at 325ft, the crash would have taken place well for helicopters in the area.
Researchers hope to reconcile the height differences with data from the black box of the helicopter, which takes more time to pick up because the water was beaten after it was immersed in the Potomac River. They also said that they are planning to refine the tower data that can be less reliable.
“That is our job to find out,” said NTSB member Todd Inman, who was increasingly agitated with questions from reporters who were more information and clarity looking for the lectures during a news conference on Saturday evening.
A large part of the damaged aircraft Rull is removed from the Potomac River during recovery efforts after the American Airlines crashes on 3 February 2025 in Arlington, Virginia crashts
The two black boxes were found from the Crashwrak after both the plane and the helicopter landed in the Potomac River
He acknowledged that within the research team there was disagreement to release the information or to wait until they had more information.
Researchers do not currently have the reading of the Black Hawk ', so they cannot provide information about the height where the height of both aircraft was currently at the moment. '
No one survived the collision, which took place as a flight from the American Airlines from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board who are preparing to land on Ronald Reagan National Airport, across the Potomac from the capital. The army Black Hawk -Helikopter, which apparently flew on the path of the Jet, had three soldiers on board.
“This is a complex investigation,” said Brice Banning, NTSB researcher who is in charge. “There are many pieces here. Our team works hard to collect this data. '
Banning also discussed the last moments of the two black boxes of the Jet, which recorded sound in the cockpit and flight data.
“The crew had a verbal reaction,” said Banning, showing the data recorder, “the plane that began to increase its pitch.
“Sounds of Impact were audible about a second later, followed by the end of the recording.”
A forensic team collects a piece of debris from the Potomac River
The two black boxes of the passenger jet have recorded the sound in the cockpit and flight data. A crane picks up a part of the wreck of the Potomac River, in the aftermath of the collision
First Responders confirmed on Sunday that 55 of the 67 victims of the deadliest crash of America have been identified since 2001. Civil servants are also planned to perform a 'lifting operation' on Monday to remove the wreck from the river.
Full research usually takes a year or more. Researchers hope to have a provisional report within 30 days.
Inman added that he spent hours with the families of victims.
“Some wanted to give us hugs. Some are just angry and angry, “Inman said. “They are just all injured. And they still want answers, and we want to give them answers. '
More than 300 responders participated in the recovery effort at a certain time, officials said. Two navy inside ships were also used to lift heavily wreck.
Crews are planned to perform a 'lifting operation' on Monday to remove the wreck from the river.
Parts of the plane are then loaded on flatbed trucks and brought to a hangar for further examination.
A non -genuentified firefighter who worked in the scene, reporter Brian Entin told that he and others are “emotionally wiped out after he has seen the horror up close.”
The fireman explained that the water is 'actually very clear' and with their flashlights, 'they saw terrible things when they arrived.'
The accident occurred when an American Airlines -Jet from Wichita, Kansas collided on Wednesday evening with the Black Hawk about Washington DC and all 67 people on board the two planes killed
No one survived the collision, which took place as a flight from American Airlines from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board prepared for land on Ronald Reagan National Airport
In the meantime, family members of the victims gathered at the crash location on Sunday when they waited news about their loved ones.
Dozens of people were seen in 10 charger buses – with a police escort – to the banks of the Potomac River just outside Reagan National Airport, where the plane went just before 9 p.m.
Transport secretary Sean Duffy asked a series of questions about the crash on news programs in the morning television on Sunday.
“What happened in the towers? Were they understaffed? “He asked at CNN.
“The position of the Black Hawk, the height of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk that night vision glasses wore?”
Then Duffy announced on Fox News that the Federal Aviation Administration was looking for staff at the Control Tower.
“Staffing deficits for air traffic control has been a big problem for years,” he complained, because he promised that President Donald Trump's government would tackle deficits with “clear, smart, brilliant people in towers checking the airspace.”
The crash on Wednesday was the deadliest in the US since November 12, 2001, when a jet came across a residential area in the New York City Borough of Queens, just after taking off Kennedy Airport.
The crash killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.
Experts regularly emphasize that aircraft travel is overwhelmingly safe, but the busy airspace around Reagan National can even challenge the most experienced pilots.
