INFORMATION FROM AMERICAN AIRLINES CRASH REVEALS POTENTIAL CAUSE BEHIND BLACK HAWK COLLISION

Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the American Airlines disaster that occurred at the end of January. On January 29, the commercial airline plane struck a Black Hawk military helicopter as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport. Along with the three individuals on the helicopter, all 64 passengers on the aircraft perished. Before it became a body recovery mission, a massive search was launched to look for survivors after both planes crashed into the Potomac River.

On Friday (February 14) National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy gave an update into the investigation surrounding the crash regarding the cause. Before being hit by the American Airlines plane, the helicopter crew might have had inaccurate information about their altitude, according to an ABC News report. According to reports, one pilot believed they were at 400 feet, while the other believed they were at 300 feet. The NTSB is not yet ready to specify the precise altitude at which the helicopter was at the time of impact, though.

"We are investigating the possibility that there might be inaccurate data," Homendy stated. Additionally, the pilot might have keyed her radio at the same moment and stepped on the ATC transmission, preventing the crew from hearing the tower's instruction for the helicopter to pass behind the aircraft.

The problems that might have plagued the helicopter crew before the crash have also been discussed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the past. He said the helicopter's automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system was disabled when he spoke to reporters earlier this month. Along with Approach Radar and Center Radar, air traffic controllers use ADS-B as one type of data to track aircraft in the sky.

Military aircraft are allowed to fly with this system switched off even though it offers much more accurate tracking of aircraft locations than the transponder - which the Black Hawk also had on board.

According to CBS News, he stated: "This was a training mission, so there was no national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off, and unless there was a compelling national security reason for turning it off, that does not seem justified." Homendy, however, further complicated matters at the time by claiming that the NTSB had not yet verified if an ADS-B was aboard. “We don’t know that at this time,” she said simply.