(New York) The United States Transportation Safety Agency (NTSB) is studying Tuesday the findings of its investigators concerning the fatal collision almost a year ago between an airliner and a military helicopter near a Washington airport, in order to determine the probable cause.
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This collision between a US army Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter – which was carrying out a training flight – and a Bombardier CRJ700 operated by a subsidiary of the American Airlines company, left 67 dead on January 29, 2025 near the Ronald Reagan airport in the federal capital.
The NTSB board meeting aims to establish the probable cause of the accident and make recommendations to improve transportation safety. The final investigation report is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
The Agency has already issued recommendations in light of the elements discovered during the investigation, which led to a strengthening of flight restrictions for helicopters around the airport.
It held three days of investigative hearings at the beginning of August which notably highlighted discrepancies of several tens of meters in the altitude displayed by the instruments of the military aircraft: shortly before the collision, the pilot reported an altitude of 300 feet, but his instructor indicated 400 feet.
At the time of the collision, he was flying at 278 feet while the ceiling of the air corridor where he was traveling was 200 feet.
Jennifer Homendy, director of the agency, said Tuesday that instrument errors tolerated by the military and climatic adjustments of the barometric altimeters on these devices resulted in a margin of error of about 100 feet. But the pilots were not informed of this at the time.
The helicopter crew “thought they were 100 feet lower,” she noted.
An Army representative clarified during the meeting Tuesday that flight manuals now include this warning.
The American government admitted its responsibility in mid-December in the context of civil proceedings brought by the family of a victim, citing in a 209-page court document failures on the part of army pilots and air traffic controllers.
