Officials have provided new details about the U.S. Army Black Hawk chopper that crashed into American Airlines flight 5342 on Wednesday, January 29, leading to the death of 67 people.
During a meeting on Saturday, February 1, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) informed reporters that the Black Hawk chopper crashed into the plane while flying between 300 and 350 feet above the ground. This was over 100 feet higher than it was allowed to fly.
The authorities said there are early signs that, for reasons still under investigation, the helicopter showed to air traffic control that it was only about 200 feet high. However, more trustworthy information shows that the passenger jet was flying at a higher altitude when the collision happened.
Officials said they anticipate receiving more information soon to help track the helicopter’s path in the sky.
Investigators said the helicopter was following a pre-approved path called Route 4 and was only allowed to fly up to 200 feet above the ground. The NTSB told press that air traffic control at Reagan National warned the helicopter team about a nearby jet two times—once at 8:46 p.m. and again at 8:47 p.m. local time—just before the crash happened.
Officials say they still don’t know if or why the helicopter was going higher than it should have been, and this is part of their investigation.
Investigators from the board observed that the American Airlines flight quickly turned upward just moments before the crash.
“At one moment just before the impact, I noticed a small increase in the pitch,” said safety board member Todd Inman during the meeting.
In a news conference on Thursday, January 30, Jonathan Koziol, the Army aviation directorate’s chief of staff, told reporters that the Black Hawk helicopter was on a training mission when it crashed. The goal was to practice evacuating government officials in case of a major emergency.
Pilots need to know about their surroundings, air traffic, and flight routes to safely transport our government leaders, he said, according to CNN.
As of January 31, rescuers have found the bodies of 41 crash victims, and 28 of them have been named. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said that the rest of the bodies probably won’t be found until the plane is taken out of the Potomac River.
The crash is the biggest plane accident in the U.S. since 2001.
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