A major update in the Washington DC plane crash has been issued as it’s been found the helicopter crew were likely wearing night-vision goggles, investigators said
The Black Hawk was conducting a training exercise when it collided with an American Airlines plane near Reagen National Airport on January 29, killing 67 people.
The probe into the incident is ongoing, but Jennifer Homendy, head of the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) said the crew “likely” followed safety precautions.
She said: “We do believe, given the mission and given what we’ve heard or not heard on the CVR [cockpit voice recorder] that they were wearing night-vision goggles.
If they weren’t wearing night-vision goggles, they should’ve stated that they were flying unaided, which they didn’t.
Ms Homendy continued: “That was not on the CVR. We did not find any indication of that on the CVR, which means they would not have had them on. But again, it’s preliminary.”
She added that the Black Hawk was undertaking a “check ride” – three of which are performed each year, one involving night-vision goggles. According to her, the January 29 flight was a combined night-vision goggle annual check ride.
However, the Black Haw’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) – which allowed it to broadcast its location and other information – was disabled during the crash.
Military helicopters are allowed to turn it off during missions related to the government so that they can’t be tracked, but Republican Senator Ted Cruz claimed this was not the case for the doomed Black Hawk.
He told the New York Times: “In this instance, this was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off.”
Mr Cruz added that the helicopter did have a transponder to broadcast its location, but the ADS-B uses more advanced technology. The US Army has not yet confirmed whether his claims in The Times are correct.
Preliminary air traffic control reports suggested the Black Hawk was flying 100ft higher than it should have been before plunging into the Potomac River.
The maximum altitude for military aircrafts in the area is believed to be 200ft, but authorities said it was flying at closer to 300ft. The NTSB explained that radar data is rounded to the nearest 100ft, meaning it was flying between 251ft and 349ft.
