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New York Times
30-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
Live Updates: Federal Investigators Begin Hearings On D.C. Plane Crash
The fuselage of the American Airlines plane involved in a collision with a Black Hawk helicopter was recovered from the Potomac River days after the crash. On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board will convene for three days of hearings into the Jan. 29 midair collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The N.T.S.B., an independent government agency that investigates transportation accidents, has already issued its initial findings on the facts and timeline of the episode, in which an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into an American Airlines commercial flight above the Potomac River. The board's final report, which will identify the cause of the accident, is not expected until next year. But this week's hearings, which will include sworn testimony from witnesses to the accident and parties to the crash, including the Army, will provide the clearest picture yet of what went wrong. Here are some of the key questions that have yet to be answered: Why was the Black Hawk flying too high? According to the N.T.S.B.'s preliminary report, the pilot flying the Black Hawk, Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, was told to descend to 200 feet, which was the mandated altitude for helicopters on the route. Yet she evidently had difficulty maintaining that level, putting the Black Hawk in a position where it crashed into the plane at roughly 300 feet. Was Captain Lobach having trouble controlling the helicopter? Or were her altimeters — instruments that measure altitude — not working properly? What was the conversation aboard the Black Hawk? The N.T.S.B. has provided a concise and paraphrased version of what it deems to be key moments from the cockpit voice recordings aboard the Army helicopter, which was carrying a crew of three: Captain Lobach; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, her instructor on the training flight; and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara, the crew chief, or technical expert. What we don't know is whether the crew members had any idea how close they were to a catastrophic event, or how concerned they were about either their altitude or a potential problem with their altimeters, which were providing differing readings to Captain Lobach and Mr. Eaves. How concerned did they seem about these factors? Is there any evidence of a last-minute attempt to change altitude or course? What was going on in the air traffic control tower at National Airport? Investigators with the N.T.S.B. have found that five air traffic controllers were working various positions at the time of the crash. However, one of the positions had been combined with another to handle both helicopter and airplane traffic hours earlier. The Federal Aviation Administration, which runs the National Airport control tower, has described the staffing that night as 'not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.' The helicopter position is not typically combined with another position until 9:30 in the evening, people briefed on the practice have told The New York Times, but a supervisor in the tower that night allowed a controller to leave early, prompting the early combination, those people have also said. When, precisely, did that person leave and why? And was the controller who was left performing both positions feeling fatigued or overtaxed by the double duty? How big of a problem was Runway 33? While the American Airlines flight was in its final stretch, the control tower asked its pilots to pivot their course from Runway 1, National Airport's most commonly used arrivals runway, to an alternative, Runway 33. The pilots agreed, putting the airplane on a landing trajectory that risked placing it dangerously close to approaching helicopter traffic. The N.T.S.B. has said that Runway 33 is used for flight arrivals only 4 percent of the time. Austin Roth, a retired Army Black Hawk instructor pilot who flew those routes many times, said in an interview with The Times that he doubted that the Army crew would have been prepared for a Runway 33 landing, given that runway's rare use. Considering all those factors, should the American Airlines crew have refused to land on Runway 33? Was the Black Hawk crew aware of the Runway 33 traffic path it should have been watching? More broadly, why did the F.A.A. allow helicopters to even operate on the route the Black Hawk was flying, when Runway 33 was in use for a landing? Would a real-time aircraft location broadcasting system have made a difference? Army officials sought, and received, permission to fly helicopters in the National Airport airspace without using a system known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast Out, or ADS-B Out. Concerned lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who is the chairman of the Senate's transportation committee, have flagged the lack of ADS-B as a potentially key contributor to the crash, but the Army has insisted it would not have helped. Is there evidence suggesting that the system would, in fact, have played a preventive role? An affirmative answer could have broad implications for the Army unit that operates flights in the area in the future.
New York Times
20-03-2025
- New York Times
After Baltimore Collapse, Risk Reviews Urged for Dozens of U.S. Bridges
Maryland had not conducted a recommended risk assessment on the Baltimore bridge that collapsed after it was struck by a ship last March, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday. In a news briefing, the board's chairwoman, Jennifer L. Homendy, said if Maryland officials had conducted the assessment, they would have found that the bridge, the Francis Scott Key, was at serious risk of collapse from a strike by a large ship. Six workers on a crew doing overnight repairs to the bridge roadway died in the collapse, which paralyzed one of the nation's busiest ports for days. Dozens of other bridges across the country, including landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, have not had the same recommended assessment, and thus carry an unknown level of risk, Ms. Homendy said. 'Frankly, we've been sounding the alarm on this since the tragedy occurred,' she said at the news conference in Washington. Investigators with the board found that dozens of bridges in 19 states had not been assessed for risk of collapse, even though the volume of vessel traffic passing underneath these bridges suggested a strike by a ship was a distinct possibility. The N.T.S.B. has contacted the operators of these bridges — in most cases, state transportation departments and regional port authorities — to urge them to conduct assessments and, if needed, come up with measures to reduce the risk of collapse. Had officials with the state of Maryland done this, Ms. Homendy said, 'the collapse could have been prevented.' The Maryland Transportation Authority did not respond to messages seeking comment. The report comes almost exactly a year after the Dali, a 984-foot-long container ship, crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The federal government sued the owner and operator of the Dali last September, announcing a settlement roughly a month later, with the defendants paying more than $100 million to cover the cost of the federal response. The F.B.I. opened a criminal investigation into the incident last year, though details have not been made public. The Dali, which has returned to transcontinental shipping after undergoing repairs, is registered in Singapore and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and managed by Synergy Marine Group, both of which are based in Singapore. The process of replacing the bridge is well underway. Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland has unveiled the design of a new bridge, the state Department of Transportation has entered into contracts with construction firms and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued permits. Construction of the new bridge at the site is expected to begin in early fall. A federal spending package that was passed late last year includes the cost of rebuilding the bridge, though the state is continuing to pursue the Dali's owner and operator in court to force them to pay for damages. Along with the state, victims' families are suing for wrongful death claims, local governments are suing for economic damage and various private businesses are suing for economic loss. Days after the collapse, the Dali's owners and operator petitioned in admiralty court to limit their damages, an issue that needs to be resolved before much of this litigation can proceed. A federal judge in Maryland has scheduled a trial on this question for June 2026.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- General
- New York Times
Small Plane That Crashed in Alaska Was a Half-Ton Overweight, U.S. Says
A small plane that crashed in Alaska last month, killing all 10 people on board, was a half-ton overweight for the icy weather conditions under which it was flying, federal investigators said in their initial report on Wednesday. The plane, which disappeared on Feb. 6 and was found the next day near the western coast of Alaska, was on a regularly scheduled afternoon flight between Unalakleet and Nome, a trip of about 150 miles. Bering Air Flight 445 vanished about 10 minutes before it was set to arrive in Nome, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. When its position was lost, the aircraft was 12 miles offshore, it said. After studying the baggage and cargo that was found, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the weight of the plane at takeoff was about 1,000 pounds over the maximum takeoff weight for a flight heading into forecast or known icing conditions, according to guidelines. It was also about 800 pounds over the maximum takeoff weight for any flight operation, the investigators said in the nine-page report. Excessive weight reduces flight performance, aviation experts say, in almost every aspect. Weather conditions in the region between Unalakleet and Nome included snow, fog and low temperatures on the afternoon of the Feb. 6 takeoff. A radar analysis showed that the Bering flight, a Cessna 208B Caravan, experienced 'a rapid loss of altitude' and a 'corresponding rapid loss in speed,' the Coast Guard said in February. Before the plane disappeared, the pilot told air traffic control in Anchorage that he had intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway in Nome to be cleared, according to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. Then the plane lost contact. A pilot and nine passengers were on board the flight, said David Olson, the director of operations for Bering Air. Their Cessna Caravans are allowed to carry as many as nine passengers and two crew members, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Bering Air did not immediately return inquiries for comment on Wednesday. The N.T.S.B. investigation is continuing. Accident investigations typically take one to two years to complete, according to the agency. More than 80 percent of communities in Alaska are inaccessible by road, according to the Alaska Transportation Department. Air connections, like those operated by regional carriers such as Bering Air, are critical for delivering supplies like fuel and food. Bering Air is based in Nome, with hubs in Kotzebue and Unalakleet, and operates flights to 32 destinations, according to its website. Nome is home to about 3,500 people, and Unalakleet about 800. The Bering Air crash was the third involving an airline flight in the United States during an eight-day stretch from late January into early February. An Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet over the Potomac River on Jan. 29 as the jetliner approached Ronald Reagan National Airport, near Washington D.C., killing 67 people. Two days later, a small medical plane carrying six people crashed near a shopping center in northeast Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing everyone on board and one person on the ground, and sending a large fireball into the air that engulfed homes and vehicles in flames.
New York Times
06-03-2025
- New York Times
Medical Plane That Crashed in Philadelphia Lacked Cockpit Recorder
In the weeks after a medical transport plane crashed in northeast Philadelphia in January within a minute of takeoff, killing seven people, investigators had hoped that the plane's cockpit voice recorder would contain clues to what had gone wrong. But after the recorder was recovered from beneath eight feet of soil and debris, those hopes were dashed: The recorder did not record anything during the jet's final, fatal flight. In fact, it 'had likely not been recording audio for several years,' according to a preliminary report released on Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board. Jeff Guzzetti, a former accident investigator for the N.T.S.B. and the Federal Aviation Administration, said the finding was 'shocking.' Federal rules for medical transport flights on planes registered in the United States require the use of cockpit voice recorders, though the plane in this case was registered in Mexico. 'It really hobbles the investigation at this point, given the lack of other information due to the destruction of this wreckage,' he said. N.T.S.B. officials did not discuss their four-page report, which contained little information to point to the cause of the crash. It said the flight crew was in communication with air traffic control and that no distress calls from the crew had been received. Investigators also recovered the computer for the plane's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, which helps pilots avoid collisions. The computer was still being evaluated to determine whether flight data could be recovered, according to the report. The small medical transport jet crashed less than a minute after it took off, killing seven people and engulfing homes and vehicles in flames in a densely populated residential and commercial area of northeast Philadelphia. The disaster occurred on Jan. 31, just two days after the collision of a regional passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., killed 67 people and became the country's deadliest air crash in 20 years. The crashes prompted anxiety among air travelers and raised questions about American aviation safety. Mr. Guzzetti said that even without a functioning voice recorder, investigators could still determine a probable cause of the crash by reviewing other evidence and looking at past crashes with similar flight patterns. A probable cause determination will be included in a final report, which the N.T.S.B. aims to complete within two years. A spokesman for Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operated the carrier and would have been responsible for maintaining its equipment, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon. The plane, a Learjet 55, crashed near a busy shopping center, damaging property across several city blocks and injuring 25 people on the ground, one of them fatally, according to city officials. The Learjet was transporting a pediatric patient from Philadelphia back to her home in Mexico, with a planned refueling stop in Missouri. The jet took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport around 6 p.m. It crashed about three miles from the end of the runway. Air traffic controllers tried several times to communicate with the pilot after the jet took off, but they received no distress calls, according to the report. After a long silence, according to audio transmissions, a controller said: 'We have a lost aircraft. We're not exactly sure what happened, so we're trying to figure it out.' All six people aboard, including the patient's mother, two pilots, a doctor and a paramedic, were Mexican, Mexico's Foreign Ministry said. The patient was 11-year-old Valentina Guzmán Murillo, who had been undergoing treatment for a spinal condition at Shriners Children's in Philadelphia since late August, according to César Esparza, a family friend. After the crash, residents were in shock at the devastation: a smoldering crater in a sidewalk outside a department store, homes stained with soot and burned shells of abandoned cars. A spokesman for the N.T.S.B. said a preliminary report on the deadly collision above the Potomac River may be released next week.
New York Times
19-02-2025
- General
- New York Times
Two Small Planes Collide Midair in Arizona, Killing 2
Two people were killed when two small planes collided in midair near a regional airport in southern Arizona on Wednesday morning, officials said. The planes, a Cessna 172S and a Lancair 360 MK II, each had two people on board when they collided just before 8:30 a.m. near Marana Regional Airport in Marana, Ariz., according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Afterward, the Lancair crashed near a runway, then caught fire, while the Cessna landed 'uneventfully,' the N.T.S.B. said in an emailed statement. Marana Airport is an 'uncontrolled field,' meaning it does not have an operating air traffic control tower, but instead relies on pilots to use the common traffic advisory frequency to announce their positions to other pilots. The town of Marana was enrolled in a five year program of the Federal Aviation Administration that was meant to help them build an air traffic control tower by the end of 2024, said Vic Hathaway, the town's communications manager. The construction was delayed because of the pandemic, and a new deadline was set for the end of 2029. Ms. Hathaway said the town had been petitioning for a tower at the airport because the area was growing rapidly, and the Marana Airport was also used to help relieve traffic from Tucson International Airport, which is about 30 miles southeast of their town. The names of the people who were killed have not been released, but Ms. Hathaway said they were from out of town. She said that the airport had not had a deadly accident before Wednesday. The N.T.S.B. is investigating the collision, which came after a string of aviation accidents. In late January, a U.S. Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet in Washington, killing 67 people. Most recently, a Delta Air Lines jet flipped over on the tarmac while landing at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday, though everyone on board survived. Last week in Arizona, a small plane owned by the Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil veered off a runway at the Scottsdale Airport and struck a parked jet, killing a pilot and injuring three other people.
