The final conversation between a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and her instructor, which took place just seconds before their Black Hawk chopper collided with an American Airlines plane outside Washington, D.C., killing 67 people, has been made public by a federal probe.
On Wednesday, July 30, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began a three-day hearing to investigate the incident that happened on January 29 over the Potomac River close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Along with the three members of the helicopter crew, all 64 passengers and crew members on American Airlines Flight 5342 perished.
The Black Hawk was operating beyond its assigned altitude and had been warned twice by air traffic control about the approaching jet in the minutes before the accident, according to some of the most important discoveries.
The Army chopper was returning to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as part of a night training operation. Staff Sgt. Ryan O. Hara, 28, instructor Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, and Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28 were at the controls.
In addition to cockpit transcripts, the NTSB’s presentation featured an animated simulation of the incident. The timeline states that Eaves said to Lobach, “Come down for me,” around three minutes prior to impact, pointing out that they were flying at 300 feet, much beyond their 200-foot limit in that territory.
About five minutes prior to landing, the American Airlines flight, which was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, had consented to a runway change. A number of teenage figure skaters were on board, having just returned from a top-tier training camp.
An air traffic controller warned the Black Hawk crew of the approaching aircraft about two minutes prior to the collision. The controller granted the chopper crew’s request for visual separation after they accepted it. About ninety seconds later, a second warning came, prompting the crew to make sure they could still see the plane.
The last cockpit exchange then occurred only five seconds after the second warning.
Eaves said to Lobach, “All right, come left for me, ma’am. I believe that’s why he’s asking.” “Yeah,” she said.We’re kind of out near the middle, Eaves remarked, and Lobach said, “Okay, fine.”
Four seconds passed during the entire exchange. The helicopter was 270 feet in the air at the moment. The American Airlines aircraft was only 320 feet above the ground when it made its fatal fall.
The two planes collided at 8:48 p.m., three seconds later.
Investigators are looking into whether the helicopter crew’s mistakes, poor communication, or possible air traffic control errors led to one of the deadliest mid-air collisions in recent U.S. history. The NTSB hearing is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
