Pilot made two fatal errors in seconds before army helicopter crashed into passenger jet
The bombshell report into the January 29 incident at Washington DC's Ronald Reagan International Airport, which also killed the three Army personnel aboard the helicopter, claims that Captain Rebecca Lobach did not follow an order to change course.
Salvage crews pull up a part of a Black Hawk helicopter near the site in the Potomac River
(Image: AP )
Seconds before the catastrophic collision of a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with a domestic flight carrying 64 passengers, the pilot committed two critical errors, according to a new investigation. The explosive investigation into the accident at Washington DC's Ronald Reagan International Airport on January 29, which also resulted in the deaths of the three army personnel aboard the helicopter, indicates that Captain Rebecca Lobach failed to heed an instruction to alter her flight path. As American Airlines Flight 5342 was descending for landing just before 8:48pm, only 15 seconds later, the night sky was suddenly illuminated by a fireball above the Potomac River.
The calamitous event resulted in 67 fatalities, including a group of young figure skaters. The New York Times has unearthed what is says were two chances for the disaster to be averted.
Prior to the crash, the Black Hawk had been warned by air traffic control that the regional passenger jet was near. This wa acknowledged by the crew who then asked for authorisation to perform what is often considered a standard aviation procedure, reports the Mirror.
(Image: Getty Images )
One of the US Army pilots requested to initiate "visual separation," which involves the crew relying on their own vision to navigate and maintain safe clearance from other aircraft instead of depending on instructions from tower controllers. This request was met with affirmation as the controller replied, "visual separation approved," a statement captured in audio recordings from the tragic event .
These requests occur daily worldwide without incident; however, Capt. Lobach failed to visually separate from the incoming passenger jet. According to The New York Times, this was either because she didn't spot the plane or was unable to navigate the helicopter to a safer position.
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Lobach, with 500 hours of flying experience, was over Ronald Reagan Airport for her annual Black Hawk flight evaluation when she reportedly made her first mistake while the American Airlines flight was circling to land. Her evaluator and co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, relayed a tower order to turn left "toward the east river bank."
This would have increased the distance between the two aircraft, but Lobach allegedly failed to follow this order, and 15 seconds later, everyone on both aircraft was dead. It remains unclear why this routine move wasn't executed or why the order to move left wasn't followed, according to flight data.
"There is no indication that (Capt. Rebecca Lobach) was suffering from health issues at the time or that a medical event affected her during those final moments aboard the Black Hawk, according to friends and people familiar with the crash investigation, which included autopsies and performance log reviews," the report states. Investigators now suspect that a microphone malfunction may have prevented crucial information from reaching the cockpit of the US Army helicopter.
It's possible that both the pilot and co-pilot pressed the talk button simultaneously, which would have cut off incoming audio, causing them to miss the word "circling."
Jennifer Homendy, chair of the US National Transportation Safety Board, suggested this error could have resulted in an incomplete message leaving Lobach and Eaves unsure of how to move their helicopter to avoid the jet.
"At 8:47:42 - or 17 seconds before impact - a radio transmission from the tower was audible on both CVRs directing the Black Hawk to pass behind the CRJ," Homendy informed reporters.
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"CVR data from the Black Hawk indicated that the portion of the transmission that stated 'pass behind the' may not have been received by the Black Hawk crew."
Homendy also disclosed that the pilot was being assessed on her use of night vision goggles during her annual evaluation, which investigators believe the crew had been wearing for the entire flight up until the moment of collision.
The Black Hawk, which was flying higher than it should have been, also had its Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system switched off in the minutes leading up to the collision, according to statements made by Senator Ted Cruz. This technology provides altitude and tracking data, as well as the location of other aircraft in the sky or on the runway.
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