Back in January, the entire country was in shock following a collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C.
5342 had departed Wichita, Kansas, before crashing into the military aircraft over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Sixty passengers and four crew members were on board the American Airlines plane, while three others were on the helicopter. Nobody survived.
Fast forward to April, and we are now getting more information about what happened that fateful night.
The Army Blackhawk pilot involved in the Washington, DC crash failed to heed her flight instructor’s warning seconds before the deadly crash that killed 67 people, according to a new report.
Three months after the tragedy, a New York Times investigation has now revealed that there was not one misstep that led to the mishap, but a string of complicated failures was behind the fatal crash.
The New York Times reported that Rebecca Lobach missed an order from co-pilot Andrew Eaves, who was overseeing her training mission, to change course and avoid the descending American Airlines jet.
Officials also found out that the pilots “stepped on” some of the air traffic controller’s instructions, meaning they accidentally cut him off when pressing the button to talk over the radio and likely missed important information.
Another key moment was when Eaves requested and received approval for the helicopter’s pilots to use their own visuals instead of air-traffic control to avoid other air traffic.
During that moment, investigators believe Eaves and Lobach failed to hear that the American Airlines plane was “circling” because somebody was pressing the microphone key to speak to air traffic control when the word came through.
20 seconds before the wreck, the air-traffic controller asked the helicopter if it spotted American Airlines flight 5342.
That was the last communication between the plane and the air-traffic controller.
67 People Lost Their Lives During American Airlines Collision With Black Hawk Helicopter
Rescuers tried their best, but all 67 people aboard both aircraft would perish.
