Cause of US deadliest aviation disaster in two decades remains unknown; military helicopter pilots get heightened attention
WORLD / AMERICAS
Cause of US deadliest aviation disaster in two decades remains unknown; military helicopter pilots get heightened attention
Published: Jan 31, 2025 01:00 PM
Photo: VCG

Photo: VCG


The cause of the midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight on US local time Wednesday night that killed all 67 people on board both aircraft remains unclear, the Associated Press (AP) reported Friday. The AP stated it marked "the country's deadliest aviation disaster since 2001."

Also, according to the AP in a separate report on Friday, US military helicopter pilot training is under increased scrutiny in the wake of Wednesday night's fatal midair collision. The report noted that the latest accident follows a dozen fatal crashes during Army Black Hawk training missions since January 2014 that resulting in the deaths of 47 service members

The US National Transportation Safety Board said it was too soon to speculate the cause and pledged to release a preliminary report within 30 days. Officials said flight conditions were clear and that the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path, AP said.

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder - known as black boxes - from the American Airlines plane have been recovered and are en route to the US National Transportation Safety Board lab, according to a source cited by ABC News.

The AP stated that the Army Black Hawk appeared to be flying about 100 feet above max altitude allowed for its flight path and the American Airlines jet also appeared to be too high initially for where they were on their final approach to the runway, based on an analysis of published route maps and radar data.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety and suggested the Army helicopter pilot's actions contributed to the accident, the AP reported.

"For some reason, you had a helicopter that was at the same height and going at an angle that was unbelievably bad when the air traffic controller said, 'Do you see − he was talking about − do you see him?'" Trump said from the White House briefing room. "You had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter because it was, it was a very clear night," USA Today reported. 

Trump said the helicopter should have been flying at a different elevation. "The people in the helicopter should have seen where they were going," Trump said. "What was the helicopter doing in that track? Very sad. But visually, somebody should have been able to see and taken that helicopter out of play and the should have been at a different height."

Trump also blamed former president Joe Biden's administration for encouraging the Federal Aviation Administration to recruit workers "who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative." He added that the program allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and "dwarfism."

Even in peak flying conditions, US aviation experts said, the airspace around Reagan Airport poses challenges even for experienced pilots, who must navigate hundreds of commercial planes, military aircraft and restricted areas around sensitive sites, the AP reported.

"This was a disaster waiting to happen," said Ross Aimer, a retired United Airlines captain and chief executive officer of Aero Consulting Experts. "Those of us who have been around a long time have been yelling into a vacuum that something like this would happen because our systems are stretched to extremes."

Wang Yanan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times that the accident reflects some prominent problems. The first one is that effective technical means to manage busy airspace in the Washington area are lacking. There is a technical means "information gap" between the military and civilian aircraft, said the expert. For example, the Black Hawk helicopter may be not equipped with ADS-B monitoring systems, which prevent air traffic control from obtaining real-time information about their positions and flight attitude, Wang noted.

On the other hand, the Black Hawk helicopter was in charge of ferrying lawmakers and other VIP's across the area. Its operation, be it training or mission, should be integrated into the overall system of air traffic control (ATC). However, the collision may reflect that this unit did not operate in full compliance with ATC instructions during training, and there could be irregularities, according to Wang.

Furthermore, in high-speed flight conditions, it is extremely challenging to rely solely on visual sight to maintain distance, especially at night. Clearer instructions and technical means should be used to ensure safety. "But I believe that the air traffic controller did the best they could with the then circumstances or the means," said Wang.

In an interview with Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, based on the publicly available flight trajectory, Chinese air force expert Wang Mingliang said that from the perspective of a traffic accident, it's clear that the military aircraft was responsible.

The civilian aircraft was approaching the airport following its planned route and had taxied down normally, while the helicopter was basically in an equidistant position and flew straight over from the airliner's right side, causing a collision, Wang said.


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