The Black Hawk Army -Helicopter that crashed into a passenger plane in the American Airlines when it landed in Washington DC, flew 100 feet too high, the authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
The official data then came to encourage questions about how the collision – which All 67 people killed Involved – since pilots follow a strict protocol around the heights that they can reach safely.
Now information from an air traffic leader Radar has confirmed the fear of researchers that the military helicopter was 100 feet above where it was intended to fly at the time of the fiery crash.
The helicopter, flown by the 28-year-old captain Rebecca M. Lobach for a routine training exercise, flew 300 feet, but the maximum height allowed for helicopters in the area is 200 feet.
Reagan National Airport is notoriously busy and the crossover in the air space between Jets and Helicopters is routine.
The Black Box data that was recovered from the Wrrak in the Potomac River had indicated that this probably took place, but the National Transport Safety Board was waiting for the information about air traffic control before they confirmed it.
Radar data is rounded to the nearest 100 feet, which means that the helicopter flew somewhere between 251 feet and 349 feet, the NTSB said.
In the meantime, the passenger plane was 325 feet at the time of the crash and it was tidy to land.
Questions were asked about how the collision – in which all 67 people involved were killed – took place, since pilots follow a strict protocol about the heights they can reach safely
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39 and CPT. Rebecca M. Lobach, 28, were two of the three soldiers on board the helicopter
Ryan O'hara was also on board the doomed helicopter when this Wednesday evening deposited in the Potomac River
In the group of a second before the crash, the pilots made an effort to pull the plane up in an attempt to avoid the oncoming helicopter.
“At one point very close to the impact, there was a small change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” said NTSB's Todd Inman in a press conference on Saturday evening.
There were no survivors on both flights, and from Tuesday all 67 bodies have now been taken out of the water.
There were 60 passengers and four crews on board the flight of the American Airlines from Wichita, Kansas, while three soldiers were on the helicopter.
“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 large part of the damaged plane is canceled from the Potomac River during recovery efforts after the American Airlines crashes on 3 February 2025 in Arlington, Virginia
A forensic team collects a piece of debris from the Potomac River
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.
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.'
Full research usually takes a year or more. Researchers hope to have a provisional report within 30 days.
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.
All 260 people killed that crash and five people on the ground.
