Although the cause of Wednesday night’s catastrophic collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines airliner over the Potomac River is still unknown, some issues are starting to surface, such as the military chopper’s height.
Investigators continue to gather evidence from the Potomac, examining everything from recently recovered flight data to material from the cockpit voice recorder. The deadliest U.S. air crash since 2001 claimed the lives of all 64 passengers on American Airlines Flight 5342 as well as the three personnel on the helicopter in a firestorm impact near Reagan National Airport in Washington.
Just before 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 crashed with the helicopter while making its final approach into Reagan National’s Runway 33 at a height of roughly 300 feet.
The helicopter was on an annual competence training flight, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Helicopters that frequently fly through and around Washington, between military sites, the Pentagon, and other places, are required by Federal Aviation Administration regulations to fly no more than 200 feet near the airport.
At a briefing Thursday afternoon, Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, stated that the situation in D.C. is rather unique. He pointed out that Washington had tracks, or helicopter zones. As part of its regular routine, this one was moving from track one to track four. There are a lot of helicopters flying down into this area if you reside in D.C. Thus, the system is quite well-defined.
With a few exceptions for law enforcement and medical evacuation, the FAA announced new flight limits for helicopters on Friday in the Washington, D.C., area and near Reagan National Airport, the agency informed NBC News.
At the moment, Zone 1, or the airspace between specific bridges, is not in use. Helicopters are only allowed to fly south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in the neighboring Zone 4.
The collision that resulted in a fireball is being investigated by the NTSB. The agency stated that it is too early to make any judgments and that it is currently collecting information.
It is not that we lack knowledge. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy stated, “We do have information.” We have a great deal of information. We must confirm the details. To ensure that it is accurate, we must take our time.
The passenger jet’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data were recovered by the NTSB. According to the agency, the boxes were brought to NTSB labs for assessment.
On Friday, President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social that the chopper was flying far too high. The restriction of 200 feet had been greatly exceeded. That shouldn’t be too difficult to comprehend, is it?
Hegseth said as much during a briefing at the White House on Thursday.
Sadly, he said, a mistake was made last night. As soon as possible, we started looking into the elevation problem at the Army and DoD levels.
In the aftermath of a catastrophe and during the initial phases of an airline accident investigation—which, in the case of a U.S. crash, is headed by the NTSB—both statements were out of the ordinary.
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