
Investigators are set to brief lawmakers on the DC midair collision Thursday. Here's what we know
Investigators trying to figure out what led to the deadly midair collision between a US military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines plane near Washington, DC, last week will brief lawmakers Thursday on what they've learned after combing through data from both aircraft and air traffic control.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are expected to speak to the bipartisan group as the effort to pull wreckage from the cold waters of the Potomac River continues less than five miles away.
Here's what we know about the investigation into the crash that left 67 people dead:
The NTSB is grappling with conflicting altitude data as it works to piece together how the collision unfolded.
The agency said Tuesday the Potomac TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) data for the Black Hawk, which was stationed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia and flying a training mission, showed it at 300 feet shortly before the collision. The helicopter's designated route had a strict altitude limit of 200 feet, according to FAA charts.
Potomac TRACON is a regional air traffic control facility that fuses information from multiple radar sensors and the data each aircraft broadcasts on its position using GPS technology.
However, radar readings from the airport tower place the helicopter at 200 feet, while the commercial jet's flight data recorder reported an altitude of 325 feet, NTSB board member J. Todd Inman stated over the weekend.
The NTSB has said that a clearer understanding of the Black Hawk's position will only emerge once its wreckage is recovered from the Potomac River, which is expected to happen in the coming days. In the meantime, the FAA has indefinitely suspended the use of most designated helicopter routes over the Potomac.
Both the aircrafts' flight data and cockpit voice recorders – commonly known as black boxes – have been recovered. Investigators have been working to synchronize the recordings to better understand the events leading up to the collision. And separate teams continue to review maintenance records for both aircraft.
'Every piece of the information is critical to the investigation, and the NTSB is about transparency,' NTSB board chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN's Pete Muntean on Monday.
Officials have cautioned against drawing premature conclusions into the cause of the crash.
Determining the Black Hawk's precise altitude at the time of the collision is seen as a crucial step in understanding how two aircraft collided under clear skies over some of the country's most tightly controlled airspace.
The NTSB is expected to release a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days. While final investigations often take more than a year to complete, Homendy voiced optimism that this case could progress more quickly.
'I would hope it would be much less than that,' Homendy said.
Prev
Next
Crews led by the NTSB and the US Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving have pulled significant pieces of the passenger jet from the Potomac River, including its right wing, sections of the fuselage, the cockpit and key flight systems, according to the NTSB.
The wreckage is being sent to a secure location 'for a full wreckage layout and examination,' the NTSB said.
The investigation will include a detailed inspection of the jet's major components, structural damage, and fracture surfaces as well as an assessment of its overall 'airworthiness,' the NTSB said. Investigators will also examine cockpit switch positions and instrument readings, the agency said.
Crews working on the wreckage recovery face another day of cold and wet conditions Thursday. A winter weather advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. for icy conditions, before transitioning to rain later in the morning and clearing by the afternoon.
All 67 victims have been recovered and identified, officials said Wednesday.
Among those victims was Ian Epstein, a charismatic American Airlines flight attendant who was remembered in a celebration of life In North Carolina Wednesday, CNN affiliate WBTV reported.
'He was just the greatest guy who made everybody happy all the time,' Lynne Southmayd, a former flight attendant, told WBTV.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBS News
10 hours ago
- CBS News
Small plane crash off San Diego coast kills 6 people on board
A small plane carrying six people crashed off the San Diego coast, killing everyone on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday. The twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, not long after it took off, the FAA said. The plane was returning to Phoenix one day after flying out from Arizona, according to the flight tracking website Searchers found a debris field later Sunday about 5 miles off the coast of Point Loma, a San Diego neighborhood that juts into the Pacific, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. The water in the search area is about 200 feet deep. Although the FAA said all six people on board the plane were killed, authorities haven't identified them. The FAA said the plane is owned by vitamin and nutritional supplement maker Optimal Health Systems. But the company based in Pima, Arizona, said in a statement that it sold the plane to a group of private individuals in 2023, meaning the FAA database could be out of date. However, the company's founder, Doug Grant, said in the statement, "We personally know several of the passengers onboard and our sincerest condolences are offered to those affected by the tragedy, all of whom are incredible members of our small community." The FAA referred questions about the plane's ownership to the National Transportation Safety Board, which didn't immediately provide any further details about the crash. San Diego Harbor Police assisted with sonar to help pinpoint the area of the crash, CBS affiliate KFMB-TV reported. The Coast Guard also alerted the San Diego Fire Department Lifeguards about the crash, and lifeguards were able to find an oil sheen and some debris on the water. Any debris initially recovered by lifeguards has been turned over to Coast Guard officials, the fire department said. The pilot told air traffic controllers that he was struggling to maintain his heading and climb as the plane twice turned toward shore before going back out to sea, according to audio posted by and radar data posted by FlightAware. The controller urged the pilot to climb to 4,000 feet after he reported the plane was only about 1,000 feet in the air. The controller directed the pilot to land at a nearby U.S. naval airport on Coronado Island, but the pilot said he was unable to see the airport. A short time later, the pilot repeatedly signaled the "Mayday" distress call before controllers lost radar contact. A man who was out surfing when the plane crashed told NBC 7 in San Diego that he saw the plane come down at an angle, then climb back into the clouds before diving again and crashing into the water. "The next time he came out of the clouds, he went straight into the water. But after I saw this splash, about six seconds later, it was dead silent. I knew that they went in the water, nose first, at a high speed," Tyson Wislofsky said. The Coast Guard said multiple rescue crews had been deployed in the search, including two helicopters and multiple ships. The crash comes weeks after a small Cessna crashed into a San Diego neighborhood in foggy weather and killed six people.
%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%2FTAL-lead-image-EMERGENCYEXIT0625-7c5e169571e04144a14046ef2de88d94.jpg&w=3840&q=100)

Travel + Leisure
10 hours ago
- Travel + Leisure
What Would Actually Happen If You Tried to Open the Airplane Emergency Door Mid-flight?
The most important thing in the exit row on a plane isn't the extra legroom—it's the emergency door. These doors are strategically located throughout the aircraft so that passengers can easily evacuate, regardless of whether they're in first class or the last row. The Airbus A380—the world's largest commercial aircraft—has 16 emergency doors. That's approximately one for every 50 passengers. While part of the flight attendant safety speech includes pointing out where the nearest emergency doors can be found, it doesn't include the answer to one burning question. What happens if you try to open the emergency door mid-flight? If you ask American Airlines First Officer Steve Scheibner, nothing would happen if you tried to open the door—because you can't open the emergency door mid-flight. Unless you're capable of lifting 25,000 pounds, it's physically impossible. 'Once this door gets pressurized in flight, it's nine pounds per square inch,' says Scheibner, who goes by Captain Steeeve on TikTok where he has more than 380,000 followers. Another pilot-turned-social media sensation explains it further on YouTube: 'We pressurize our aircraft to a lower altitude so that you guys can breathe,' says Pilot PascalKlr. 'The inside pressure pushes the door in its frame.' Scientists liken it to how a drain plug works. Given the small size of sink and bath drains, it takes a substantial amount of effort to pick them up. Also, most emergency exit doors on planes open inwards. Still, physics isn't the only thing keeping emergency doors closed during flights. On most commercial aircraft, all cabin doors automatically lock once the plane has reached a certain speed. According to Scheibner, it's approximately 80 knots (92 miles per hour). They can't be manually unlocked until the plane slows down again. Obviously, these locks weren't customary back in 1971 when the infamous 'D.B. Cooper' parachuted out of a Boeing 727's rear door with $200,000 in cash somewhere over southeastern Washington. In fact, because hijacking passenger planes was common in the late '60s and early '70s, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amended their safety regulations in 1972 and started requiring large passenger aircraft exits to be designed so that they can't be opened during flight. Exit sign in an airplane. Margot Cavin/Travel + Leisure Even though it's not possible to open an emergency door mid-flight, people have tried. In fact, every year passengers make headlines for trying to do so. A few weeks ago, an All Nippon Airways flight from Tokyo to Houston was diverted to Seattle after an unruly passenger kept trying to open the emergency doors. Cabin crew and fellow passengers managed to restrain him using zip ties. Upon landing in Seattle, the passenger was handed over to the local police and FBI. And when an American Airlines passenger on a flight from Albuquerque to Chicago tried to open an emergency door 20 minutes into their flight last year, the plane returned to Albuquerque where law enforcement was waiting. If the plane isn't far from its final destination, it will usually try to land there. That's what happened on another American Airlines flight in 2024 when a passenger flying from Milwaukee to Dallas attempted to open an emergency door mid-flight. A flight attendant was injured in the process, and the man was charged with a federal crime. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. At the very least, trying to open an emergency door mid-flight is a great way to get yourself on the dreaded no-fly list. While most passengers who try to open emergency doors fail, at least one appears to have succeeded. In 2023, a passenger on an Asiana flight about to land in Daegu, South Korea allegedly opened the emergency door he was sitting next to. The plane was more than 700 feet off the ground at the time. While the plane was able to safely land, and no one was seriously injured, 12 people went to the hospital and were treated for hyperventilation. 'The wind was stinging my legs and hitting my face so hard I couldn't even breathe properly,' the passenger sitting next to him recalled in an interview with CNN. Asiana immediately launched an investigation to see how the door was able to be opened. It also issued a statement saying it would stop selling certain exit row seats on its Airbus A321-200 aircraft. But this doesn't exactly mean that sitting next to an emergency door is dangerous. On the contrary, some experts say the exit row boasts the safest seats on the plane. 'If there was a seat that was safer, being close to an emergency exit increases the chance of getting out quicker,' Cary Grant, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's College of Aviation, previously told T+L.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Six killed in small plane crash off California coast
A small plane crashed off the San Diego coast shortly after takeoff, killing all six people on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday. The twin-engine Cessna 414 crashed at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, the FAA said. The plane was returning to Phoenix one day after flying out from Arizona, according to the flight tracking website The Coast Guard said searchers found a debris field later Sunday about 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the coast of Point Loma, a San Diego neighborhood that juts into the Pacific, U.S. Coast Guard officials. The water in the search area is about 200 feet (61 meters) deep.