Latest news with #aviationsafety
New York Times
4 hours ago
- General
- New York Times
Investigators Home in on Altitude Discrepancy in Army Helicopter Before Potomac Crash
The Army pilots whose Black Hawk helicopter crashed into a passenger jet over the Potomac River on Jan. 29 may have been misled by their instruments, causing them to believe they were at a safer, lower altitude when they were actually headed straight into the jet's path, according to evidence that federal investigators unveiled on Wednesday. That revelation came as the National Transportation Safety Board began three days of public hearings into the midair collision that killed 67 people, the first fatal crash involving a major American airline in 15 years. Those hearings revealed a series of malfunctions and fateful decisions that night that heightened the dangers of an already crowded airspace over the river near Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport, crisscrossed by passenger jets and helicopters flown by the military and local police. Inside the helicopter, for instance, investigators said that the Black Hawk's instruments might have shown the pilots were flying below their actual position. The area in which the helicopter was flying did not have much room for error. Helicopters there were expected to fly in a narrow band between 100 and 200 feet above the Potomac. Inside the airport's control tower that night, investigators found, a single controller was handling both helicopter and airplane traffic at the time of the 8:48 p.m. crash, though the jobs are not typically combined at that hour. Then the controller instructed the Army helicopter to go behind the American Airlines plane as it was landing, which other pilots told the N.T.S.B. was unusual. Typically, controllers tell helicopters to simply wait upriver until planes on that path pass. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
8 hours ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Black Hawk Battled Faulty Altitude Data Before Washington Crash
Safety investigators probing January's midair collision between an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet and a US Army Black Hawk near Washington found a key instrument on the helicopter was displaying inaccurate altitude data that could have led the pilots to think they were flying lower than they actually were. The US National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday kicked off a three-day hearing to pour over findings in its investigation into the crash that killed 67 people.
CNN
8 hours ago
- General
- CNN
NTSB holds hearings to determine why passenger plane and Army helicopter collided in January, killing 67 people
The first of the National Transportation Safety Board's three days of investigative hearings is underway to help determine what caused the deadly midair collision on January 29 between an Army helicopter on a training mission and American Airlines flight 5342 landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The NTSB presented for the first time major 'discrepancies' in the altitude readouts on board the US Army Blackhawk helicopter that led to the crew believing they were flying lower over the Potomac River than they actually were. Investigators said Wednesday that, following the crash, they tested three of the same models of Blackhawk helicopters from the same Army unit involved in the collision flying over the river. 'Notably, the barometric altimeters continued to be 80 to 130 feet lower than the helicopter's determined altitude above sea level when flying at speed over the tidal portion of the Potomac River,' NTSB investigator Marie Moler presented to the hearing. Barometric altimeters use pressure to gauge altitude and can be impacted by a variety of atmospheric and other factors. In its preliminary report, the NTSB said the Blackhawk was consistently higher than maximum published altitudes along the Potomac River, including when it collided with the passenger jet. The heavily technical findings are the most significant in the early moments of Wednesday's 10-hour-long hearing schedule. The Army, PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines which operated the plane, the Federal Aviation Administration and other parties are represented. 'This is not an adversarial hearing,' NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said in her opening remarks. 'This does not mean difficult questions won't be asked. They will be, and they should be. This is an investigation. We are here to improve safety.' At the start of the hearing, an 11-minute animation was shown detailing the minutes leading up to the collision and a video of the accident itself. The board paused briefly to allow any of the family members of the victims of the crash to leave the room or look away before it was played. The air traffic controller working in the control tower that night was responsible for two different positions on two different radio channels, the timeline animation reveled. Five minutes before the collision, flight 5342 was handed over to the controller. Minutes before the crash the controller asked the flight if the pilots could switch their approach to a different runway. Twice, the controller advised the helicopter of other air traffic in the area and both times the helicopter pilots said they could see the plane and were visually ensuring they were staying separate from it. Cockpit voice recorder transcripts from the helicopter show there was some confusion of what to look for and the instructor told the student to sidestep the traffic. The captain of the regional jet had completed 106 flights into the airport and the first officer had completed 51, records reviewed by NTSB showed. However, investigators said interviews with PSA Airline's pilots showed they generally didn't know much about the helicopter routes in the area. Three Reagan National Airport-based captains and one first officer were asked about their knowledge of published helicopter routes and only one PSA captain – who was a former military helicopter pilot in the region – had knowledge of the routes prior to the accident. Sixty-seven people died in the accident over the Potomac River, including 60 passengers and four crew on the plane and three soldiers on the helicopter. The NTSB will meet Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to discuss the facts learned in the investigation. It is expected to conclude with a determination of what caused the crash in January.
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
United plane forced to land minutes after takeoff over engine failure
A transatlantic United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was forced to return to the airport just moments after taking off after suffering a mid-air engine failure . Flight UA108, carrying 219 passengers and 11 crew members, departed Washington Dulles Airport at 5:40 p.m. on Friday, July 25, bound for Munich in Germany . But as the jet climbed through 5,000 feet, the left engine failed, prompting the pilots to declare a 'MAYDAY' and alert air traffic controllers. What followed was nearly three hours of tense aerial maneuvering. The crew entered a holding pattern northwest of Dulles, circling at 6,000 feet while dumping fuel to reduce the aircraft's landing weight. Throughout the emergency, the pilots worked closely with air traffic control to maintain safe separation from other aircraft and prepare for the return. Once the fuel dump was complete, the plane was cleared to land using an Instrument Landing System approach to Runway 19 Center. In a statement to the Independent , United Airlines confirmed the emergency, saying the aircraft returned to Dulles 'to address a mechanical issue.' A spokesperson added: 'The flight was subsequently cancelled, and we arranged alternate travel arrangements to take customers to their destination as soon as possible.' The airline declined to provide further details about the engine malfunction or confirm whether an investigation is underway. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority also confirmed the emergency landing, noting that the aircraft was met by fire and rescue crews and towed to a gate for inspection.
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
United Boeing 787 Dreamliner forced to land minutes after taking due to ENGINE FAILURE
A transatlantic United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was forced to return to the airport just moments after taking off after suffering a mid-air engine failure. Flight UA108, carrying 219 passengers and 11 crew members, departed Washington Dulles Airport at 5:40 p.m. on Friday, July 25, bound for Munich in Germany. But as the jet climbed through 5,000 feet, the left engine failed, prompting the pilots to declare a 'MAYDAY' and alert air traffic controllers. What followed was nearly three hours of tense aerial maneuvering. The crew entered a holding pattern northwest of Dulles, circling at 6,000 feet while dumping fuel to reduce the aircraft's landing weight. Throughout the emergency, the pilots worked closely with air traffic control to maintain safe separation from other aircraft and prepare for the return. Once the fuel dump was complete, the plane was cleared to land using an Instrument Landing System approach to Runway 19 Center. The touchdown was smooth - but with one engine disabled, the Dreamliner was unable to taxi and had to be towed from the runway. All passengers and crew deplaned safely at the gate without injury. In a statement to the Independent, United Airlines confirmed the emergency, saying the aircraft returned to Dulles 'to address a mechanical issue.' A spokesperson added: 'The flight was subsequently cancelled, and we arranged alternate travel arrangements to take customers to their destination as soon as possible.' The airline declined to provide further details about the engine malfunction or confirm whether an investigation is underway. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority also confirmed the emergency landing, noting that the aircraft was met by fire and rescue crews and towed to a gate for inspection. 'There was no disruption to other flights,' a spokesperson said. Although no injuries were reported, the aircraft remains grounded at Dulles as technicians continue to assess the damage.
