NTSB criticizes FAA for failing to act before fatal Army helicopter collision
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration did not act on warnings from air traffic control staff who proposed flight path changes to avoid such dangers and noted there had been high staff turnover at the airport's control tower.
"Every sign was there that there was a safety risk, and the tower was telling you," Homendy said on the first day of an investigative hearing. "You transferred people out instead of taking ownership over the fact that everybody in FAA in the tower was saying there was a problem…. Fix it. Do better."
The crash over the Potomac River near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.
More: Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was on a 'proficiency training flight'
The NTSB disclosed that in 2022 members of an FAA air traffic working group had urged moving helicopter traffic away from Reagan airport and to establish airborne "hot spots" but it was rejected because the issue was "too political."
Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, cited the recommendation in sharply criticizing the FAA's inaction.
"What caused the FAA's oversight to be so flawed that they couldn't fix this problem before this tragedy occurred?" Cantwell said.
Homendy noted the Reagan air traffic control tower had three managers in the last two years and around 10 since 2014.
The FAA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
FAULTY ALTITUDE DATA
The NTSB hearing also focused on faulty altitude data in U.S. Army helicopters like the one that collided with the American Airlines jet.
The NTSB investigative hearing is looking at the Black Hawk aircraft's air data systems and altimeters, including the potential it received faulty altitude data.
"There is a possibility that what the crew saw was very different than what the true altitude was," NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
Testing after the crash showed that Army Black Hawk helicopters in flight showed discrepancies of 80 to 130 ft (24 to 40 m) versus the actual altitude.
Army officials said discrepancies of up to 100 ft were not a cause for concern in the Black Hawk, manufactured by Lockheed Martin's LMT.N Sikorsky division.
NTSB board member Todd Inman questioned why the Army was not doing more testing and taking other steps to alert pilots about potential discrepancies. "Could you hurry it up?" Inman said.
Homendy said that discrepancy was significant, especially given the margin of error was 75 ft at the edge of the helicopter route near Reagan airport. She also questioned if broader testing was needed and whether the issue could impact civilian Sikorsky helicopters.
The NTSB played audio excerpts of communications between air traffic control towers during the minutes before the crash, including a request by controllers to the American Airlines regional jet to shift to a different runway.
Previously, the NTSB said the helicopter's altitude was higher than it should have been for the area at the time of the crash.
The maximum altitude for the route the helicopter was taking was 200 ft, but the collision occurred at an altitude of around 300 ft.
More: Flying feels riskier. Here's what the experts say about that high number of accidents.
The Black Hawk, which was on a nighttime training flight, had a crew of experienced pilots wearing night vision goggles.
The FAA restricted helicopter flights in March after the NTSB said the presence of those aircraft posed an "intolerable risk" to civilian aircraft.
In May, the FAA barred the Army from helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a May 1 close call that forced two civilian planes to abort landings.
The FAA this week said the helicopter flights remained on hold even after the agency disclosed it had signed a new agreement with the Army on July 1.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, David Gregorio and Jamie Freed)
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New York Post
38 minutes ago
- New York Post
Night vision goggles may have hampered helicopter pilots before crash with jet, experts tell NTSB
The pilots of a U.S. Army helicopter that collided with a passenger jet over Washington in January would've had difficulty spotting the plane while wearing night vision goggles, experts told the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday. The Army goggles would have made it difficult to see the plane's colored lights, which might have helped the Black Hawk determine the plane's direction. The goggles also limited the pilots' peripheral vision as they flew near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. 5 The National Transportation Safety Board was informed that even with night vision goggles, it is unlikely it would've prevented the crash with the passenger jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. AP The challenges posed by night-vision goggles were among the topics discussed at the NTSB's third and final day of public testimony over the fatal midair crash, which killed all 67 people aboard both aircrafts. Experts said another challenge that evening was distinguishing the plane from lights on the ground while the two aircraft were on a collision course. Plus, the helicopter pilots may not have known where to look for a plane that was landing on a secondary runway that most planes didn't use. 'Knowing where to look. That's key,' said Stephen Casner, an expert in human factors who used to work at NASA. Two previous days of testimony underscored a number of factors that likely contributed to the collision, sparking Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to 'do better' as she pointed to warnings the agency had ignored years earlier. Some of the major issues that have emerged so far include the Black Hawk helicopter flying above prescribed levels near the airport as well as the warnings to FAA officials for years about the hazards related to the heavy chopper traffic there. It's too early for the board to identify what exactly caused the crash. A final report from the board won't come until next year. But it became clear this week how small a margin of error there was for helicopters flying the route the Black Hawk took the night of the nation's deadliest plane crash since November 2001. The American Airlines jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area. The collision was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the traveling public, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation. 'Significant frustration' NTSB members scolded FAA officials during Friday's hearing, accusing them of saying the right things about safety in public while failing to cooperate in private. They said the FAA has repeatedly refused to provide information requested by investigators. Board member Todd Inman said there was 'significant frustration between what's actually occurring' and 'what's being said for public consumption.' Frank McIntosh, the head of the FAA's air traffic control organization, said he would start working immediately to remove those barriers. McIntosh also acknowledged problems with the culture in the tower at Reagan National, despite past efforts to improve compliance with safety standards. 'I think there were some things that we missed, to be quite honest with you, not intentionally, but I was talking about how certain facilities can drift,' McIntosh said. 5 The crash killed all 67 people in both aircrafts. AP Questions over lack of alcohol testing Tim Lilley, an aviation expert whose son Sam was a pilot on the passenger jet, said he's optimistic the tragic accident will ultimately lead to some positive changes. 'But we've got a long way to go,' he told The Associated Press. Lilley said he was particularly struck by the FAA's lack of alcohol testing for air traffic controllers after the crash. 'And they made a bunch of excuses why they didn't do it,' Lilley said. 'None of them were valid. It goes back to a whole system that was complacent and was normalizing deviation.' Homendy said during Thursday's hearings that alcohol testing is most effective within two hours of a crash and can be administered within eight hours. Nick Fuller, the FAA's acting deputy chief operating officer of operations, testified that the controllers weren't tested because the agency did not immediately believe the crash was fatal. The FAA then decided to forgo it because the optimum two-hour window had passed. 5 Experts posed other challenges that they believe would've still made it difficult for the fatal crash to be prevented. AP Controller didn't warn the jet FAA officials testified this week that an air traffic controller should have warned the passenger jet of the Army helicopter's presence. The controller had asked the Black Hawk pilots to confirm they had the airplane in sight because an alarm sounded in the tower about their proximity. The controller could see from a window that the helicopter was too close, but the controller did not alert the jetliner. In a transcript released this week, the unidentified controller said in a post-crash interview they weren't sure that would have changed the outcome. Additionally, the pilots of the helicopter did not fully hear the controller's instructions before the collision. When the controller told the helicopter's pilots to 'pass behind' the jet, the crew didn't hear it because the Black Hawk's microphone key was pressed at that moment. 5 A final report won't be released until next year. AP 'Layer after layer of deficiencies' Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA crash investigator, told the AP that a combination of factors produced this tragedy, like 'holes that line up in the Swiss cheese.' Any number of things, had they been different, could have prevented the collision, he said. They include the Black Hawks having more accurate altimeters, as well as a key piece of locating equipment, known as ADS-B Out, turned on or working. In turn, air traffic control could have seen the problem earlier. Just a few feet could have made a difference, Guzzetti said. 'It just goes to show you that an accident isn't caused by one single thing,' Guzzetti said. 'It isn't caused by 'pilot error' or 'controller staffing.' This accident was caused by layer after layer of deficiencies that piled up at just the right moment.' 5 The Black Hawk crash was the deadliest plane crash since November 2001. AP Ex-official: FAA and Army share blame Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General, told the AP that both the Army and the FAA appear to share significant blame. The Black Hawks' altimeters could be off by as much as 100 feet and were still considered acceptable, she said. The crew was flying an outdated model that struggled to maintain altitude, while the helicopter pilots' flying was 'loose' and under 'loose' supervision. 'It's on the individuals, God rest their souls, but it's also on the military,' Schiavo said. 'I mean, they just seem to have no urgency of anything.' Schiavo was also struck by the air traffic controllers' lack of maps of the military helicopter routes on their display screens, which forced them to look out the window. 'And so everything about the military helicopter operation was not up to the standards of commercial aviation … it's a shocking lack of attention to precision all the way around,' she said. Schiavo also faulted the FAA for not coming off as terribly responsive to problems. 'I called the Federal Aviation Administration, the Tombstone Agency, because they would only make change after people die,' Schiavo said. 'And sadly, 30 years later, that seems to still be the case.'
CNN
5 hours ago
- CNN
NTSB probes collision avoidance technology, safety systems in final day of midair collision investigative hearings
In more than 32 hours of testimony across three days the National Transportation Safety Board probed virtually every detail of what led up to the January 29 midair collision between a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, operated by PSA airlines. The focus Friday evening was the many organizational structures that may have impacted the deadly collision, which killed 67 people over the Potomac River, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. 'I don't think the accident occurred that night. I think it happened years before,' Clark Allen, Air Traffic Control Specialist at the Federal Aviation Administration said. 'It was a combination of many years that built up to that evening.' After the collision, the FAA replaced many of the air traffic control managers with responsibility for the Reagan National Airport area 'in what appears to be blame and even punishment or retribution, in their eyes,' NTSB investigator Brian Soper noted Friday. 'It's always struck me how many times that as soon as we announce a launch (of an investigation)… the air traffic manager and or key management personnel are often relieved, moved, changed out sometimes, right while we're on site.' The general manager and assistant general managers from the Washington district as well as the air traffic manager and operations manager from the airport control tower were removed, he said, 'effectively removing all of the institutional knowledge at the management level.' 'So we didn't remove anybody as a result of an accident,' Nick Fuller, FAA Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Operations, noted. 'You didn't?' Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair asked skeptically. 'I think many would disagree, since it was done pretty immediately. Also, the NTSB had to weigh in several times to get people help in the tower.' 'Because what we're hearing is and seeing, and what they're seeing is the response is people get transferred or fired, or the safety culture team got removed,' she said. 'So we're trying to figure out, OK, that's the message they're hearing, which isn't good.' The new management team in charge of the Washington controllers had 'great resumes,' but 'don't have the skill set or the experience,' Soper said. 'Can you please help me understand how this will provide an orderly and safe transition to the new and still evolving operational procedures, a decrease in risk of reoccurrence and an increase in safety?' 'The individuals that were put into that place, as you said, their resumes were not just impeccable, but they've actually shown as proven leaders that can actually effectuate change in a positive manner and ensure that safety is not compromised,' Frank McIntosh, FAA Chief Operating Officer said. The NTSB noted an apparent communication breakdown between what controllers were saying and what witnesses in this week's hearing were saying. 'We're sitting here getting testimony 'we have done these great things, we've done these wonderful things.' The documents and the information and the facts that we have are not seeing that,' Inman said. 'There's a significant frustration between what's actually occurring being what's being said for public consumption.' 'I 100% agree with you. There definitely seems to be some barrier in communication where the people that impacts the most are not hearing the things that the FAA is moving forward on, and that needs to be addressed,' McIntosh responded. The questioning included probing organizational systems in place to manage risk, and NTSB board member Michael Graham noted the breakdowns were a failing of these essential programs. 'You don't have a safety management system if that person out on the leading edge, or in the control tower doesn't feel like they can report, they can be heard be responded to,' he said. 'For our system to be as safe as can be you have got to engage every employee.' Highlighting the frustrations, the NTSB noted their team was in the control tower facility in March when there was a fight between a traffic management coordinator and a controller. One employee was arrested at the time. NTSB chair Homendy was also highly critical of FAA not providing all of the data the board requested, citing back and forth requests for information the agency collected about close calls at airports. 'I think you are interfering with the investigation,' Homendy said. 'I want to hear 'great, let's work together.' I don't want to hear 'no' every time we ask for information.' She additionally noted the FAA provided different data to Congress than it gave to the NTSB. 'I'm not going to play the data game with you guys anymore,' she said. 'It's actually a well known thing that every time we come out with data you are going to come out with other data.' 'It just is not helpful. It just looks like you are trying to hide things, which I don't think you are,' she said. The FAA vowed to work together to get the information needed. 'The last thing we want is for there to be a feeling that we are not good partners when it comes to raising our safety standards,' McIntosh said. The airport, often called by its code DCA, is considered by the Federal Aviation Administration to be a 'special qualification airport' and anyone who flies there must undergo specific training due to the complex and challenging characteristics of the airspace. PSA pilots are all qualified to operate there and receive FAA-approved training, PSA's Assistant Director Flight Operations, Technical, Grant Clow testified. 'Think of it like a consolidated playbook of DCA-related guidance that we extract from all the different manuals and resources that we have as like an orientation guide for both new pilots and pilots that maybe have recently upgraded or have been away for a while to kind of re-familiarize themselves with information specific to DCA,' he said. However, neither this document nor any of the airline manuals provided to PSA pilots had information specifically describing helicopter operations or routes around at the airport at the time of the accident, according to Clow. The Army's reluctance to use an anti-collision technology known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast, or ADS-B, and why the FAA allowed military helicopter pilots to fly without it was a key topic of questioning Friday. 'ADS-B out' transmits radio signals with GPS location, altitude, ground speed and other data once per second, independent of air traffic control. However, on January 29, the Black Hawk was flying following an FAA memorandum which allowed it to be turned off. There are currently no rules stating the military must use the collision avoidance system nationwide, an FAA official testified, as ADS-B requirements are determined by location. Lt. Col. Paul Flanigen of the US Army said the Department of Defense has 'concerns' with the technology. 'I pretty sure most people are aware of the fact that it's inherently open source,' Flanigen testified. 'It has some spoofing vulnerabilities which make it non-conducive for those sensitive missions, which not just the Army, but all of DOD has to operate on.' Earlier this week, a bill was introduced that would require aircraft operators to install ADS-B technology on all flights and require the Army to keep it turned on in almost every case. The NTSB has also called for aircraft to be equipped with 'ADS-B in,' the ability to receive data from surrounding aircraft and display it on a cockpit screen for pilots. The NTSB can make recommendations, but it is up to the FAA to mandate something. On Friday, the FAA agreed it should be required, but stopped short of saying it will act on the issue. 'Does the FAA, right now, support requiring that any newly manufactured aircraft registered in the US be equipped with ADS-B in?' Homendy, the NTSB chair asked. 'Yes, ma'am,' McIntosh, the FAA chief operating officer replied. 'Do you also support or oppose requiring that any aircraft required to be equipped with ADS-B out today… also be required to install and operate ADS-B in?' Homendy followed up. 'Yes, ma'am,' McIntosh replied again. 'Your position has shifted, and I appreciate that,' Homendy said. The first two days of testimony highlighted critical moments leading up to the collision as investigators probed witnesses about standard safety practices that should have occurred, altimeters that displayed incorrect altitude, and the helicopter route that came perilously close to the path planes use landing at the airport. There were over ten hours of testimony on each of the first two days of the hearing. The NTSB asks questions, but parties to the investigation including the Army, PSA Airlines, air traffic controller's union and FAA can also examine witnesses. On Thursday, an FAA witness acknowledged the air traffic control tower failed to warn the pilots flying the American Airlines regional jet, operated by PSA Airlines. 'No safety alerts,' were given, Fuller, the FAA Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Operations, testified. 'Should the local controller have let the PSA crew know that there was a helicopter there?' Homendy asked. 'Yes,' Fuller acknowledged. The tower did warn the pilots of the Black Hawk helicopter about the approaching regional jet and they said they would avoid it, transcripts of the cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control audio released revealed. Yet, moments later, the aircraft collided. Multiple air traffic controllers and pilots at Reagan National Airport told the NTSB they struggled with the constant stream of planes, leading to a 'make it work' attitude among them. 'This is 'we just make it work,' because we don't have another choice,' NTSB investigator Brian Soper said they told him in on-site interviews. 'There are airplanes coming in and everything was related to the capacity, the demand or the amount of traffic.' Another witness, Rich Dressler of Metro Aviation, which operates medical helicopters in Washington said the way the Army flies helicopters around the city makes him uneasy. 'Is there any unit that when you hear it makes you feel uncomfortable?' Soper asked. 'Sadly, yes,' Dressler responded. 'I don't like saying that 12th aviation battalion gives us all pause in the community. And I'm speaking from my group there; we are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating.' An NTSB determination of the collision's probable cause is expected in January.
NBC News
12 hours ago
- NBC News
Night vision goggles may have hindered helicopter pilots before jet collision, experts say
The pilots of a U.S. Army helicopter that collided with a passenger jet over Washington in January would've had difficulty spotting the plane while wearing night vision goggles, experts told the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday. The Army goggles would have made it difficult to see the plane's colored lights, which might have helped the Black Hawk determine the plane's direction. The goggles also limited the pilots' peripheral vision as they flew near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The challenges posed by night-vision goggles were among the topics discussed at the NTSB's third and final day of public testimony over the fatal midair crash, which killed all 67 people aboard both aircrafts. Experts said another challenge that evening was distinguishing the plane from lights on the ground while the two aircraft were on a collision course. Plus, the helicopter pilots may not have known where to look for a plane that was landing on a secondary runway that most planes didn't use. 'Knowing where to look. That's key,' said Stephen Casner, an expert in human factors who used to work at NASA. Two previous days of testimony underscored a number of factors that likely contributed to the collision, sparking Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to 'do better' as she pointed to warnings the agency had ignored years earlier. Some of the major issues that have emerged so far include the Black Hawk helicopter flying above prescribed levels near the airport as well as the warnings to FAA officials for years about the hazards related to the heavy chopper traffic there. It's too early for the board to identify what exactly caused the crash. A final report from the board won't come until next year. But it became clear this week how small a margin of error there was for helicopters flying the route the Black Hawk took the night of the nation's deadliest plane crash since November 2001. Army Colonel Andrew DeForest told the NTSB that 'flights along the D.C. helicopter routes were considered relatively safe,' but some pilots in the 12th Battalion that flew alongside the crew that crashed told investigators they regularly talked about the possibility of a collision because of the congested and complicated airspace. The American Airlines jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area. The collision was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the traveling public, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation. 'Significant frustration' NTSB members scolded FAA officials during Friday's hearing, accusing them of saying the right things about safety in public while failing to cooperate in private. They said the FAA has repeatedly refused to provide information requested by investigators. Board member Todd Inman said there was 'significant frustration between what's actually occurring' and 'what's being said for public consumption.' Frank McIntosh, the head of the FAA's air traffic control organization, said he would start working immediately to make sure the agency complies with the investigation. McIntosh also acknowledged problems with the culture in the tower at Reagan National, despite past efforts to improve compliance with safety standards. 'I think there were some things that we missed, to be quite honest with you, not intentionally, but I was talking about how certain facilities can drift,' McIntosh said. Homendy told McIntosh she believes agency leaders are sincere about wanting to improve safety, but the solution must be more than just sending a top-down message of safety and also actually listening to controllers in the field. Questions over lack of alcohol testing Tim Lilley, an aviation expert whose son Sam was a pilot on the passenger jet, said he's optimistic the tragic accident will ultimately lead to some positive changes. 'But we've got a long way to go,' he told The Associated Press. Lilley said he was particularly struck by the FAA's lack of alcohol testing for air traffic controllers after the crash. 'And they made a bunch of excuses why they didn't do it,' Lilley said. 'None of them were valid. It goes back to a whole system that was complacent and was normalizing deviation.' Homendy said during Thursday's hearings that alcohol testing is most effective within two hours of a crash and can be administered within eight hours. Nick Fuller, the FAA's acting deputy chief operating officer of operations, testified that the controllers weren't tested because the agency did not immediately believe the crash was fatal. The FAA then decided to forgo it because the optimum two-hour window had passed. Controller didn't warn the jet FAA officials testified this week that an air traffic controller should have warned the passenger jet of the Army helicopter's presence. The controller had asked the Black Hawk pilots to confirm they had the airplane in sight because an alarm sounded in the tower about their proximity. The controller could see from a window that the helicopter was too close, but the controller did not alert the jetliner. In a transcript released this week, the unidentified controller said in a post-crash interview they weren't sure that would have changed the outcome. Additionally, the pilots of the helicopter did not fully hear the controller's instructions before the collision. When the controller told the helicopter's pilots to 'pass behind' the jet, the crew didn't hear it because the Black Hawk's microphone key was pressed at that moment. 'Layer after layer of deficiencies' Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA crash investigator, told the AP that a combination of factors produced this tragedy, like 'holes that line up in the Swiss cheese.' Any number of things, had they been different, could have prevented the collision, he said. They include the Black Hawks having more accurate altimeters, as well as a key piece of locating equipment, known as ADS-B Out, turned on or working. In turn, air traffic control could have seen the problem earlier. Just a few feet could have made a difference, Guzzetti said. 'It just goes to show you that an accident isn't caused by one single thing,' Guzzetti said. 'It isn't caused by 'pilot error' or 'controller staffing.' This accident was caused by layer after layer of deficiencies that piled up at just the right moment.' Ex-official: FAA and Army share blame Mary Schiavo, a former U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General, told the AP that both the Army and the FAA appear to share significant blame. The Black Hawks' altimeters could be off by as much as 100 feet and were still considered acceptable, she said. The crew was flying an outdated model that struggled to maintain altitude, while the helicopter pilots' flying was 'loose' and under 'loose' supervision. 'It's on the individuals, God rest their souls, but it's also on the military,' Schiavo said. 'I mean, they just seem to have no urgency of anything.' Schiavo was also struck by the air traffic controllers' lack of maps of the military helicopter routes on their display screens, which forced them to look out the window. 'And so everything about the military helicopter operation was not up to the standards of commercial aviation ... it's a shocking lack of attention to precision all the way around,' she said. Schiavo also faulted the FAA for not coming off as terribly responsive to problems. 'I called the Federal Aviation Administration, the Tombstone Agency, because they would only make change after people die,' Schiavo said. 'And sadly, 30 years later, that seems to still be the case.'
