An air traffic control veteran with 23 years of experience has revealed that the error made by operators in the moments prior to the fatal collision in Washington, DC.
The American Airlines Jet with 64 people on board crashed with an American army helicopter with three soldiers over the icy waters of the Potomac River on Wednesday evening, killing everyone.
The Black Hawk helicopter apparently flew on the path of the jet while he landed on Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Researchers who worked through the wreck in the Potomac, discovered two Black Box flight recorders on Thursday evening while trying to determine what went wrong.
An experienced air traffic controller told DailyMail.com that the Air Traffic Control (ATC) audio that emerged from the crash showed the instructions of the operator on the helicopter were 'very ambiguous'.
In the almost minute and half-admission, ATC operators can be heard to ask the helicopter if the commercial flight is in sight.
More assignments and confirmations are made between ATC operators through muted audio.
An air traffic controller said to the helicopter pilot: “Pat 2-5, do you have the CRJ in sight?”
Seconds later, the controller spoke again and asked: “Pat 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”
An air traffic control veteran with 23 years of experience said that the audio that emerged from the crash shows that the instructions of the operator to the helicopter were 'very ambiguous'
An American Airlines -Jet with 64 people on board crashed with an American army helicopter with three soldiers over the icy waters of the Potomac River on Wednesday evening
The experienced air traffic controller, who worked at six different airports throughout the country, said that if those commands were the first referral from the Black Hawk to the plane, the instructions would be unclear.
'It would have been very ambiguous for:' Okay, which plane? Well, where do I look? “He said.
'When you give people instructions, we use the 12 points on a clock. Let's say that 12 hours is northern. When I say: “Look at your nine o'clock”, that would mean to the left or to the west.
“So, if I had a helicopter who came into my airspace and I wanted him to see a plane, I would say:” Pat 2-5 traffic, nine hours, three miles regional jet incoming to the airport. “
He noted that air traffic controllers have an enormous responsibility for giving accurate and detailed information to pilots.
'We must always be right, because if we are not, people die. Air traffic controllers have hundreds, if not thousands of lives on our screen, our radar range in one go, “said the veteran controller.
'What we say when we tell you to do something, you can do it better because we try to guarantee your safety.
“The pilot in command can ignore instructions if they think their aircraft will be in an imminent danger, but you better have a good reason because they are asked why they did it.”
ATC operators can be heard in the almost minute and half-admission to ask the helicopter if the commercial flight is in sight
They beat each other at only 400 ft above the ground and burst into a violent explosion before she dived in the Vriespotomac river, underground
Destroying radar images conquered the doomed American Airlines flight with an American army helicopter.
The Black Hawk -Helikopter Cut through the airspace from the opposite direction under cover of darkness, with both aircraft that apparently are not aware of the presence of the other.
They beat each other at only 400 ft above the ground and burst into a violent explosion before she dived down in the Vriezame Potomac River.
Radar images of air traffic control showed the fatal moment that the two aircraft crossed paths.
The flight of the American Airlines, with the JIA5342 label, and the Army Black Hawk helicopter, with the Label Pat25, seemed to look at the crash frontally.
The path of the helicopter remained relatively straight while the flight of the American Airlines to make its landing and the two bumped.
Famous Russian skating savings Evgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56, in addition to the mothers of Lane and Han, also tragically lost their lives in the crash.
The bodies of all four members of the cockpit crew – including someone who was only a few months away from a promotion and wedding – were also recovered from the rubble on Thursday.
The pilots of the American Eagle Jet were Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and first officer Samuel Lilley, Dailymail.com exclusively revealed.
And both flight attendants that were on that tragic flight have been revealed as Ian Epstein and Danasia Elder.
ATC staff numbers on Reagan National Airport on Wednesday were 'not normal for the time of the day and the volume of traffic', and controllers were more overworked than normal, according to an internal provisional federal aviation administration report seen by the New York Times.
Reagan National has been understaffed for many years, with only 19 fully certified controllers from September 2023 – well below the goal of 30 – according to the most recent air traffic controller that has been submitted to the congress.
The path of the helicopter remained relatively straight while the flight of the American Airlines, and the two bones
Chronic understaffing with air traffic controllers is nothing new, with known causes, including a high turnover (made worse by burnout induced by overtime) and cutbacks.
Controllers often work 10 hours a day, six days a week, to fill the void.
The provisional crash report showed that the lack of staff meant that the controller monitoring and the sending of helicopters near DCA also instructed aircraft to land and leave on the start and landing courts.
Usually two controllers would handle these roles, because the staff use two different radio frequencies to talk to aircraft and helicopter pilots.
While the controller talks to them, the pilots of each plane may not hear each other.
