Helicopter Crew May Have Missed Instruction Before DC Plane Crash: NTSB

ARLINGTON, VA — The crew of a Black Hawk Army helicopter may have missed a key instruction from the air traffic controller in the moments before it collided with an American Airlines flight near Reagan National Airport last month, according to officials with the National Transportation Safety Board.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy on Friday said a recording from the helicopter's cockpit suggests the crew may have missed an instruction to pass behind American Airlines flight 5342 before the Jan. 29 midair collision that killed 67 people.

Homendy said the Black Hawk crew never heard the words “pass behind the” during the transmission from the controller because the helicopter’s microphone key was depressed right then.

At one point during the flight before the collision, the helicopter’s pilot called out that the Black Hawk was at 300 feet, but the instructor pilot said the helicopter was at 400 feet, Homendy said.

“At this time we don’t know why there was a discrepancy between the two,” Homendy said.

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash between the plane and the helicopter on a training flight. The plane was about to land at Reagan National Airport when the crash occurred, killing everyone on board both aircraft.

The remains of all 67 victims have been recovered and identified.

Homendy said the helicopter was on a check flight that night when the pilot was being tested on the use of night vision goggles and flying by instruments. Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

The NTSB said it anticipates producing a preliminary report within 30 days of the collision. The probable cause of the collision will be identified in the final report, which could come in 12 to 24 months.

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Earlier NTSB Comments On Flight Data

An early look at data from the plane's the plane’s flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, along with the helicopter’s black box, showed a shift in its position a second before the crash, officials said about a week ago.

The National Transportation Safety Board said a few days after the crash that preliminary data showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of the airliner and the helicopter.

Investigators also 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 that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash.

Data from the jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, NTSB officials told reporters. Data in the control tower showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet — its maximum allowed altitude — at the time.

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 that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash.

Army aviation chief of staff Jonathan Koziol said the helicopter crew was “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying around Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.