A new investigation into the Washington, D.C., plane and helicopter collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 has blamed personnel failures of both the pilot and the air traffic controllers.
The crash on Jan. 29 occurred when a Black Hawk helicopter on a training mission collided with an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people. Previous investigations have said that the Black Hawk helicopter was flying above the permitted flight ceiling of 200 feet. The Black Hawk was flying at 300 feet at the time of the collision. It was also previously revealed that the Black Hawk did not have an advanced tracking system enabled, which would have allowed air traffic greater accuracy in its tracking of the Black Hawk’s path.
On Sunday, allegations that the air traffic controller approved a risky path and that the pilot disobeyed instructions arose from a New York Times investigation.
Black Hawk helicopter pilot Rebecca M. Lobach, who was undergoing an annual evaluation on the night of the crash, did not turn left after being told to do so by her instructor, Warrant Officer Andrew Loyd Eaves. The air traffic controller gave the instruction just seconds before the impact, but Lobach never turned left, instead flying directly into the jet.
The air traffic controller, who was handling both the helicopter and the American Airlines passenger jet, told the passenger jet to land at a rarely used space known as Runway 33, rather than Runway 1. This decision was made in an effort to pull off a risky maneuver known as squeeze play, in which air traffic controllers schedule planes to take off and land with as minimal time between as possible.
The Black Hawk was utilizing a flying path known as Route 4, and the landing slope for Runway 33 was at the maximum altitude at which helicopters could fly. A plane landing at Runway 33 should have a typical vertical distance between it and a helicopter of 75 feet, but on this night, the helicopter was flying higher than the permitted flight ceiling, at approximately 300 feet.
The outlet’s investigation found that the air traffic controller did not give adequate warning to the two aircraft that they were on a collision course.
DC PLANE CRASH: WHAT TO KNOW AFTER MIDAIR COLLISION
Instead, the air traffic controller warned the Black Hawk to pass behind the jet, which some military pilots told the outlet goes beyond the air traffic controller’s obligations and that a seasoned Black Hawk crew would have known what to do.
The air traffic controller did not give the Black Hawk a clear, urgent warning to avert the crash or give the crew important details such as where Flight 5342 was positioned and its course.