As federal officials continue to investigate what caused the most fatal American air clash in almost a quarter of a century, understand what happened inside the black hawk helicopter of the army, and exactly what altitude flew when he crashed with a passenger plane, It will probably be key to unraveling the disaster, aviation experts say.
A couple of experienced army pilots were in the controls, with a third aviator sitting behind them for a clear climate mission on Wednesday, part of an annual evaluation to prove the knowledge and domain of a pilot in the cabin, The authorities said. The flight route was also familiar: the buzzing of military helicopters is a constant about Washington, DC
And yet, the training flight ended in a fireball in the night sky when the UH-60 Black Hawk crashed into a commercial plane that transported 64 people, without leaving the survivors.
The publicly available data reviewed by NBC News suggest that the army helicopter may have turned too high at the time of the accident, but the researchers warned against drawing conclusions before they can analyze the official flight data.
The researchers recovered flight data recorders, or black boxes, from the American Eagle Jet on Thursday night. The officials trusted that they would locate the helicopter flight recorder, which should provide the exact altitude in the impact and other details.
“There are many experts out there, but until we obtain the data from the black boxes, that is the only truth, and we will not know a little,” said Jonathan Koziol, an aviation advisor to the senior army who is helping the investigation.
Before the collision, both aircraft were in transition, according to officials of the National Transport Security Board, which leads the investigation. American Eagle Flight 5342 descended to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; The army helicopter was changing from a flight route to another, a common movement often made in the airspace occupied on the capital of the nation. The last known altitude of the passenger plane was registered at about 375 feet, according to the FlightAware aircraft tracking website. But helicopters generally cannot fly more than 200 feet near Reagan, under the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Tim Loranger, an aviation lawyer and former mechanic of aircraft of the US Marines. that it should be “and that the army helicopter was not. If the official flight data confirms those findings, Lorenger said, it will open a large number of additional questions.
The researchers, he said, will want to know if a mechanical problem with the helicopter instruments provided the pilots incorrect altitude data. They will ask if the air traffic controller noticed a problem with the altitude of the helicopter and gave clear instructions to correct the problem. And will analyze whether the army pilots had registered enough flight hours in recent months to stay competent.
“Flying aircraft, it’s not like a bicycle,” said Lorenger, who has represented members of the family members killed in military aircraft accidents. “You must do it continuously to maintain your sharpness and your skills as a pilot.”
Koziol, the army aviation advisor, said the instructor’s pilot had about 1,000 flight hours and co -pilot, who was experiencing the evaluation, had approximately 500 hours.
“That is an experienced team,” he said. “That is right on the goal.” When asked when any of them had flown for the last time, Koziol said he didn’t know.
The Army identified on Friday two of the three members of the Black Hawk crew as sergeant. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia, and director of Petty Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, by Great Mills, Maryland.
The army said it is believed that O’Hara is dead, waiting for a positive identification of his body, and that the remains of the other two soldiers have not yet recovered. No one on the passenger plane survived. Local authorities said Friday that 41 sets of remains have been recovered and that until now 28 victims have been identified.
The National Transportation Board, which leads research on fatal collision, is also investigating the passenger plane, flight routes and air traffic control operations.
An air traffic control supervisor in the Reagan National Tower allowed a controller to finish its early shift, a source familiar with the confirmed investigation to NBC News. That left a controller to handle plane and helicopter traffic in the area, which is allowed under the FAA regulations, but not typical for that time of day in Reagan.
And they are investigating whether Washington airspace, DC, could be too full.
The Reagan airport was designed for 15 million passengers annually, but now drives approximately 25 million people each, according to airport officials. There has been a discussion for years among airport officials and elected leaders on whether air traffic safety is affected by this dramatic increase.
The danger is inherent in military aviation. During combat and rescue operations, pilots must often navigate in treacherous conditions under intense pressure; Training flights designed to prepare them for these missions have their own dangers, and some experts warn that risks have been growing in recent years. In fiscal year 2024, the Army registered the largest number of serious aviation accidents in a decade, including one that involves a black hawk.
Another open question is whether army aviators wore night vision glasses at the time of the accident. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegesh, said in a video posted in X that Black Hawk pilots “had night vision glasses.” However, it is not clear if the aviators were using them. The devices can help pilots while sailing on dark ground, but some experts say they could limit a pilot’s vision in a congested and illuminated airspace.
“It would be just a bright dough of light, and it would be very distracted, and it would be very dangerous to fly in that with the night vision glasses in that area,” Lorenger said.
Rodney Sangsland, an army veteran who spent 20 years training new pilots in Black Hawks after his retirement from the military, did not agree. Sangsland said he has registered more than 5,000 flight hours with night vision glasses, even in illuminated areas. Although the glasses can limit a pilot’s range of vision, he said that the pilots are trained to continuously scan their surroundings.
“I believe in them,” he said. “They are a lifeguard.”
