'She Did Not Turn Left': Pilot Ignored Instruction Before Fiery DC Plane Crash

ARLINGTON, VA — An investigative report on the crash between a Black Hawk Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport revealed the helicopter pilot failed to heed her co-pilot's instructions moments before the collision that killed everyone on board both aircraft.

The report published by The New York Times on Sunday detailed a series of failures leading up to the Jan. 29 midair collision that killed 67 people total on an American Airlines flight and the three in the Army Black Hawk helicopter. The plane was about to land at Reagan Airport when the crash occurred, killing everyone on board both aircraft.

According to the Times, the Black Hawk's mission was to conduct an annual evaluation of Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves was acting as her instructor. A third crew member, Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, sat in the back.

As the helicopter approached Reagan Airport, an air traffic controller warned the crew that there was a passenger plane nearby. In response, one of the pilots employed a practice called “visual separation," which allows a pilot to take control of navigating around other aircraft, rather than relying on the controller for guidance.

According to the Times, radio communication broke down leading up to the crash. The helicopter crew did not execute visual separation effectively, and seconds before the collision, Eaves told Lobach to turn left and navigate toward the east bank of the Potomac River to create more space between the two aircraft.

She did not turn left.

Related:

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• Air Traffic Controller Arrested After Fight At Reagan Airport
• Helicopters Permanently Restricted Near Reagan Airport After Crash
• Helicopter Ban Needed To Prevent Reagan Airport Collisions: NTSB
• Family Of DC Plane Crash Victim Files $250M Legal Claims: Reports

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board previously said the helicopter may have missed a key instruction from the air traffic controller in the moments before the fiery collision.

In February, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said a recording from the helicopter's cockpit suggests the crew may have missed an instruction to pass the passenger plane to avoid a possible collision.

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 at the time.

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. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the highest acceptable altitude for helicopters using the same route as the Black Hawk is 300 feet.

“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.