Pentagon investigation of midair crash between a jet and a civilian plane: Comments on the helicopter’s path could prove key in Pentagon probe of Wednesday night’s crash

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the military is investigating Wednesday night’s crash between an Army helicopter and a civilian airliner near Washington, D.C.

Officials say 28 bodies have been recovered so far. There were people on a regional jet, and service members on a Black Hawk helicopter.

In a video statement released on social media, Hegseth said that ” the Army unit involved was the 12th Aviation battalion at Fort Belvoir and that it had been carrying out an annual practice flight.”

Despite President Trump saying the pilots of the Army helicopter bore responsibility for the crash, Hegseth said the crew was “fairly experienced” and carrying out a “required annual night evaluation, they did have night vision goggles.”

The dynamics of the cockpit are unique and can be created by a checkride. In a checkride, an instructor pilot watches over the less experienced pilot to make sure he does not make mistakes while the less experienced pilot is anxious to not. “Sometimes an instructor pilot will test the less experienced aviator to see how they respond, but such a technique would have been unusual and inadvisable in that location given the reduced margin for error.”

Source: Questions about helicopter’s path could prove key in Pentagon probe of midair crash

NPR: Investigation of a Black Hawk Helicopter Resulting in a Jet-Down Collisions at a Distance of 200 feet

Defense officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that a male pilot and female co-pilot were on board the Black Hawk, along with a flight crew member. The instructor pilot had 1,000 hours of flight time, which is considered quite high. The co-pilot had 500 hours, which is considered average. The Pentagon is still notifying next of kin and has not yet released the names of those on board.

Officials also tell NPR that the Black Hawk was supposed to be flying at a maximum of 200 feet, though sources say it was flying at least 100 feet higher. All requested anonymity during the investigation.

“There is a low, prescribed altitude for the helicopter to fly at in that location on the route,” Bowman said, “to ensure sufficient and safe distance between the helicopter and aircraft landing or taking off from Reagan. If the helicopter was above the prescribed altitude, that could be a leading cause of the collision. That will be a key focus of the investigation.”

The investigation will be able to determine whether the plane was in the corridor or the right altitude at the time of the incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it has not yet recovered the so-called black boxes from the plane — the cockpit voice and flight data recorders. Federal safety investigators believe the Black Hawk helicopter also had its own recording devices, which they hope will help provide more clues on the cause of the crash.

This shouldn’t have caused a crash, according to retired Air Force brigadier General John Teichert. He said that the maneuver in a regional jet is not aggressive enough to prompt the Black Hawks to change runways.

Eighty percent of aviation accidents worldwide can be attributed to human error, and that is a prime candidate in this case, Marco Chan, a former pilot who now heads pilot programs at Buckinghamshire New University, told WIRED.

He says that safety protocols and human factors were at play. “I don’t like to draw conclusions early on. In general, globally, after the pandemic, while the passenger number has bounced back quite a bit, I don’t think the workforce number has caught up, in every aspect of aviation.”

Military Helicopters and a Passenger Aircraft Collision in New York State, Dec. 16, 2009: The First Major Colgan Air Accident in the United States

Air traffic control requested the helicopter if it had seen the aircraft, and told the helicopter to take a left behind the CRJ if it was on an urgent military mission. It’s not known if the helicopter responded.

Military flights sometimes operate on different radio frequencies than passenger flights, so the passenger jet’s crew may not have heard the tower radioing the Black Hawk. If more than one party are on the same channel at the same time, that will prevent others from hearing the entire conversation.

The helicopter may have taken off from a military base near the airport. In a grainy video from the Kennedy Center, a smaller light, presumably the helicopter, can be seen overtaking the brighter light of the plane, both of them flying low to the ground. The two collide in a massive explosion, splitting into several burning fragments.

The passenger jet, which was operated by regional carrier PSA Airlines on behalf of American Airlines, had 64 people on board, and police boats have already recovered 27 bodies. Colgan Air crash in New York state in 2009 was the last aircraft tragedy to happen in the US.

Investigators are scrambling to figure out why a military helicopter and a passenger airplane collided and plunged into the Potomac River in Washington DC late Wednesday, the first major US air crash in 16 years.

On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump appeared to place the blame for a midair collision that killed 67 people on the previous administration’s approach to hiring aviation professionals. The next few weeks will see investigators look over the whole crash to try and figure out what happened in the moments leading up to it.

the chair of the National transportation safety board said at a press conference Thursday that they need time. The NTSB is an independent US federal watchdog agency that is leading the investigation into the crash. She said that they have a lot of information. We need to make sure we have the correct information.

The White House criticized the Biden administration’s “rejection of merit-based hiring” at the FAA, saying it was a hiring program that encouraged diversity. Trump also ordered the FAA and the US secretary of transportation to review all of the FAA’s hires and safety protocol changes made during the four years of the Biden administration, “and to take such corrective action as necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety,” which might include firings.

In a press briefing, NTSB board member J. Todd Inman said at least seven different working groups will focus on different elements of the flights, made up of federal investigators as well as representatives from the military, aircraft manufacturers, and organizations representing aviation professionals.

The crew involved in the accident will be looked into by an operations group. There are two groups that look at the aircraft’s body, as well as the wreck and scene of the crash, to figure out what happened before the collision. Another will look at the engines. Flight control instruments, as well as onboard pneumatic systems and electrical systems, will be examined by others. A group of people are looking at the role of air traffic control, using recordings and sensor data to see how professionals at National Airport reacted to the incident. Another will examine the reactions of first responders, and another will examine the helicopter in particular. Crew fatigue, workload, medication, equipment and training are just some of the things that will be covered in a human performance group.