Heartbreaking revelations have emerged regarding the tragic midair collision involving a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight that claimed 67 lives in January.
A six-month investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) unveiled new insights, including surveillance footage that moved attendees to tears at a hearing held on Wednesday.
This week, NTSB began three days of hearings to help determine what caused the collision near Washington’s Reagan National Airport on January 29.
Thousands of documents released by the NTSB suggest that the Army helicopter pilots did not receive the air traffic controller’s directive to fly behind the aircraft, as per the agency’s findings.
The NTSB also highlighted significant “discrepancies” in the Black Hawk helicopter’s altitude readings, which led the crew to mistakenly believe they were flying lower over the Potomac River than they actually were.
At the beginning of the 10-hour hearing, officials showed an 11-minute animation showing the minutes leading up to the crash.
The hearing featured newly released video footage capturing the crash from the runway’s end, allowing family members present the choice to exit the room or avert their gaze from the distressing footage.
Families of the crash victims sitting in the audience broke down sobbing as officials played the newly released footage.
Some of the family members in attendance wore pictures of their loved ones on buttons or in lanyards around their necks.
The crash killed 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines plane and three soldiers on the helicopter.
Transcripts of audio from the cockpit and air traffic control tower revealed what was said inside the aircraft before the crash.
About 15 seconds before the collision, the air traffic controller asked the Black Hawk if it could see the passenger plane.
Three seconds later, the controller told the helicopter to pass behind the passenger plane.
The investigation further revealed that the Black Hawk crew inadvertently keyed their microphone simultaneously with the controller’s instruction, resulting in them not hearing the critical message, as noted in the transcript.
The crew members in the Black Hawk had problems understanding air traffic control transmissions, according to cockpit recordings.
Investigators also said the crew pointed out the bright lights of the Washington DC area during their flight.
