Latest news with #BombardierCRJ-700
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Washington air disaster probe uncovers instrument, comms issues
Faulty instruments and communication problems may have caused a passenger jet and army helicopter to collide in the worst US air disaster in two decades, flight safety investigators said Friday. The airliner was coming in to land at Reagan National Airport -- just a few miles from the White House -- when it collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk on a training mission, killing 67 people. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told a news conference it had established a timeline of events leading to the January 29 crash, although the full investigation could take up to a year. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said air traffic control had warned the Black Hawk pilot several minutes before disaster struck that the American Eagle airline craft was circling. But data pulled from the helicopter's wreckage showed that the message was muffled and the word "circling" was obscured. The Black Hawk's cockpit voice recorder (CVR) then appears not to have picked up crucial instructions to veer out of the Bombardier CRJ-700's path seconds before the collision. "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 told reporters. "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." Those words appear to have been muted by the mic key on the Black Hawk's radio as it was communicating with the tower, she said. President Donald Trump has repeatedly tied the causes of the crash to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, none of which was mentioned as a factor. Homendy and Sean Payne, branch chief of the NTSB's vehicle recorder division, said investigators would look into discrepancies between the real altitude of the Black Hawk and what its crew were apparently seeing. The passenger plane recorded its altitude at 313 feet (95 meters) two seconds before collision. "Now we're confident with the radio altitude of the Black Hawk at the time of the collision. That was 278 feet," she said. "But I want to caution, that does not mean that's what the Black Hawk crew was seeing on the barometric altimeters in the cockpit. We are seeing conflicting information in the data." Aviation experts had homed in on whether the helicopter crew could see through military night-vision goggles. Homendy said there was nothing to suggest that the crew had removed their goggles, and that testing was underway to establish what both crews were able to see at the time of the collision. ft/st
Arab News
04-02-2025
- General
- Arab News
All 67 bodies from Washington air disaster now recovered
WASHINGTON: Salvage crews have recovered the bodies of all 67 people killed when a passenger plane and a US Army helicopter collided near Washington and plunged into the Potomac River, officials said Tuesday. All but one of the bodies have been identified, said a statement from a variety of government agencies involved in the recovery effort after the deadliest US air crash in 20 years. The statement called the completion of the search for remains a 'significant step' toward bringing closure to the families of the people who died in the accident last week. 'Our hearts are with the victims' families as they navigate this tragic loss,' the statement said. 'We extend our deepest condolences and remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time.' Crews continue working to recover the wreckage of the passenger plane — a Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by American Eagle airlines — from the frigid waters of the Potomac. So far crews have retrieved pieces including the right wing, a center section of the fuselage, part of the left wing, the tail cone and rudder, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Work to recover the chopper will begin when the plane work is done, the city agencies said. Sixty passengers on the plane and four crew members were killed in Wednesday's accident along with three soldiers aboard the US Army Black Hawk helicopter. There were no survivors. The plane was on a flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington when the collision occurred. President Donald Trump was quick to blame diversity hiring policies for the accident although no evidence has emerged that they were responsible. Trump also said the helicopter, which was on a routine training mission, appeared to be flying too high. According to US media reports, the control tower at the busy airport may have been understaffed at the time of the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
All 67 bodies from Washington air disaster now recovered
Salvage crews have recovered the bodies of all 67 people killed when a passenger plane and a US Army helicopter collided near Washington and plunged into the Potomac River, officials said Tuesday. All but one of the bodies have been identified, said a statement from a variety of government agencies involved in the recovery effort after the deadliest US air crash in 20 years. The statement called the completion of the search for remains a "significant step" toward bringing closure to the families of the people who died in the accident last week. "Our hearts are with the victims' families as they navigate this tragic loss," the statement said. "We extend our deepest condolences and remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time." Crews continue working to recover the wreckage of the passenger plane -- a Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by American Eagle airlines -- from the frigid waters of the Potomac. So far crews have retrieved pieces including the right wing, a center section of the fuselage, part of the left wing, the tail cone and rudder, the National Transportation Safety Board said. Work to recover the chopper will begin when the plane work is done, the city agencies said. Sixty passengers on the plane and four crew members were killed in Wednesday's accident along with three soldiers aboard the US Army Black Hawk helicopter. There were no survivors. The plane was on a flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington when the collision occurred. President Donald Trump was quick to blame diversity hiring policies for the accident although no evidence has emerged that they were responsible. Trump also said the helicopter, which was on a routine training mission, appeared to be flying too high. According to US media reports, the control tower at the busy airport may have been understaffed at the time of the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year. dw/st
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What is known about the deadly collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter
American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army helicopter collided in midair near Washington D.C.'s Reagan National last Wednesday night, sending the two aircraft into the Potomac River and killing all 67 aboard in the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001. The cause of the crash 3 miles (5 kilometers) south of the White House and U.S. Capitol was under investigation Tuesday as crews continued removing wreckage from the river. Authorities have identified 55 bodies and are confident all will be found. The regional jet out of Wichita, Kansas, carried 60 passengers and four crew and was preparing to land. The UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia was on a training exercise and carried three soldiers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Skies were clear. A few minutes before the Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-700 series twin-engine jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked Flight 5342 if it could use a shorter runway. The pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the landing. Flight-tracking sites show the plane adjusted its approach to the new runway. Less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the plane in sight. The military pilot responded yes. Moments later the controller made another call to the helicopter, apparently telling the copter to wait for the jet to pass. There was no reply and the aircraft collided. Salvage crews retrieved one of the two jet engines and large pieces of the plane's exterior from the river on Monday and worked to recover a wing of the plane, said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Francis B. Pera. On Tuesday, crews attempted to recover the plane's cockpit, along with trying to locate the rest of the remains of the victims. Two Navy barges lifted wreckage from the river. Portions of the two aircraft will be loaded onto flatbed trucks and taken to a hangar. More than 300 responders were taking part in the recovery effort at a given time, officials said. Divers and salvage workers adhere to strict protocols and stop moving debris if a body is found because the dignified recovery of remains takes precedence, Pera said. Preliminary data showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of the two aircraft. Data from the jet's flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet (99 meters), plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters), National Transportation Safety Board officials told reporters. Data in the control tower showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet (61 meters) — its maximum allowed altitude — at the time. NTSB investigators have the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, along with the helicopter's black box, and are working to download the information inside all three. Investigators said that about a second before impact, the jet's flight recorder showed a change in its pitch. But they did not say whether that change in angle meant pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash. The plane's radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (732 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac, and the plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water. The helicopter's wreckage was also found in the river. Army aviation chief of staff Jonathan Koziol said the helicopter crew was 'very experienced' and familiar with the congested flying around Washington. Full NTSB investigations typically take a year or more. Investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days. President Donald Trump has publicly faulted the helicopter for flying at too high an altitude. He also said federal diversity and inclusion efforts — particularly regarding air traffic controllers — were somehow to blame. When repeatedly pressed on it by reporters in the White House briefing room, the president could not back up those claims. Among the passengers were members of the Skating Club of Boston who were returning from a development camp that followed the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. Victims included teenage figure skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, the teens' mothers and two Russian-born coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won a 1994 world championship in pairs skating. The victims also included a group of hunters returning from a guided trip in Kansas, four members of a steamfitters' local union in suburban Maryland, nine students and parents from Fairfax County, Virginia, schools and two Chinese nationals. The plane captain was Jonathan Campos, 34, according to multiple media reports. The Army identified the soldiers on the helicopter as Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach of Durham, North Carolina; Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland. O'Hara was the crew chief and Eaves and Lobach were pilots. Associated Press reporters from throughout the U.S. contributed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fake image of plane circulates after Washington tragedy
"Emerging now. NO survivors in the Washington plane crash, according to DC's fire chief. Rescue efforts have now shifted to a recovery operation. #planecrash," says a January 30 post sharing the image on X. Similar posts in English and Spanish spread the image across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The picture circulated while a rescue mission for those aboard American Eagle Flight 5342 turned quickly into a recovery mission, with authorities saying there were no survivors among the 64 people on the plane and three soldiers on the helicopter. The accident -- the first major US crash since 2009 -- occurred as the commercial airliner approached Reagan National Airport for a routine late-evening landing after a flight from Wichita, Kansas. The picture circulating online is not authentic. It shows a jet that is largely intact, but officials said the plane involved in Washington collision split into three pieces. Photos released by the US Coast Guard captured the wreckage in the Potomac River on January 30. The salvage crews pulled part of the plane out from the river using a crane on February 3. The aircraft that crashed was a Bombardier CRJ-700, according to American Airlines (archived here). Photos of such planes -- which according to a brochure for the jet series can seat up to 78 passengers -- show longer fuselages and narrower noses than in the fake image spreading online, plus rear-mounted engines (archived here and here). Walter Scheirer, a professor of engineering at the University of Notre Dame, told AFP in a February 3 email that he believes the fake circulating online "is a poorly rendered image that is likely the product of a generative AI algorithm" (archived here). He said the image contains numerous irregularities typical of AI creations, including an "asymmetrical and malformed cockpit and truck windows in the scene." The trucks in the background also appear to be floating cleanly atop the river, and the plane is depicted as having crashed far closer to the shore than the Coast Guard's photos show was the case, Scheirer said. Siwei Lyu, director of the University at Buffalo's Media Forensic Lab, also analyzed the image using detection algorithms and agreed it was likely created by AI (archived here). "The reflection of the blue lights that have no correspondence in the image is one strong telltale sign," Lyu told AFP in a February 3 email. He added that the figures in the background are misshapen and disproportionate, with unrealistic head-to-body ratios. AFP also observed that the workers in the viral image do not appear to scale relative to the plane. One figure on the plane has a malformed arm. AFP has debunked other misinformation about the collision here and here.
