The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating discrepancies in altitude data between an American Airlines commercial jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into one another and killed 67 people last week near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Flight recorder data shows the commercial jet was at approximately 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, during the collision, while airport control tower data indicated the Black Hawk helicopter was at 200 feet. NTSB investigators noted that control tower data can be imprecise and are working to recover data from the helicopter’s water-damaged black box for more accurate information.
The plane’s flight recorders captured the pilots’ verbal reaction upon spotting the helicopter moments before impact, followed by attempted evasive maneuvers to increase pitch. The collision occurred during the plane’s final approach, with 64 passengers and crew aboard the flight from Wichita, Kansas, while the helicopter carried three soldiers.
D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said on Sunday that 55 victims have been pulled from the water and identified after the bodies were found during surveys conducted before removing the plane’s fuselage. Officials said salvage boats will begin lifting the plane’s wreckage out of the river Monday morning.
The victims included children as young as 11, union workers, and foreign nationals from the Philippines and China. This accident marks the deadliest domestic aviation disaster since 2001’s American Airlines Flight 587 crash in Queens, New York.
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