Investigators worked Saturday to resolve flight data showing key differences in altitude between the commercial jet and the Army helicopter involved in the deadliest aviation accident in a generation near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into Wednesday night’s collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people, said teams are trying to figure out why preliminary data recorded a 100-foot difference in altitude between American Airlines regional carrier jet and the Army Black Hawk helicopter before the fatal crash.
The American Airlines jet’s flight recorder tracked its altitude at 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, when the collision took place shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday. However, the airport control tower showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet in altitude at the time of the crash.
NTSB investigator Todd Inman said control tower data can be imprecise. He hoped information from the helicopter’s black box, which suffered water damage after the collision sent it spiraling into the river, could provide a clearer picture once a download is possible.
“This is a complex investigation,” NTSB investigator Brice Banning said. “There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data.”
Prior reporting from The New York Times suggested the helicopter was flying higher than normal and slightly off course when the collision occurred.
President Trump, who has blamed Democrats’ diversity-based hiring practices for causing the crash, posted on social media Friday that the Black Hawk was flying “far above” its mandated 200-foot height limit.
“That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.
Investigators said the plane’s flight recorders captured the pilots’ noticing the incoming helicopter moments before the collision.
“The crew had a verbal reaction,” Mr. Banning said. He added that the plane may have attempted last-second evasive maneuvers when the pilots tried to “increase its pitch.”
“Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording,” he said.
The American Airlines plane coming from Wichita, Kansas, had 64 people on board when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers during the plane’s final approach into Reagan Airport. Officials said no one survived the crash.
Recovery teams said they have pulled 42 bodies from the wreckage as of Saturday afternoon, and positively identified 38 of those found.
Salvage barges with mounted cranes arrived at the Potomac River that same day to begin removing the plane’s wreckage from the water. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said Friday the last remaining bodies of the victims are trapped either inside or around the jet’s fuselage.
Children as young as 11, union laborers and foreign nationals from the Philippines and China all died when the plane went down Wednesday night.
The collision is the deadliest domestic airplane accident since 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a neighborhood in Queens, New York, and killed 265 people.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.