Washington plane crash: Hero pilots’ last bid to save jet before crash
New details have come to light about the final moments inside the cockpit of an American Airlines plane involved in a midair collision with a Black Hawk military chopper in Washington DC.
The pilots of the doomed American Airlines jet in a mid-air collision with a Black Hawk military chopper made a final bid to save their passengers.
Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and First Officer Samuel Lilley, 28, attempted to pull the plane’s nose up in the final few seconds before the doomed flight hit the water, preliminary data from the plane’s flight recorder has revealed.
“At one point very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman said in a press conference on the weekend.
The revelation comes as flight recorders from the wreckage of both the plane and chopper revealed key altitude readings that could explain the crash.
Preliminary flight data from the deadly plane crash in Washington DC shows conflicting readings about the altitudes of the passenger jet and Army helicopter that collided near Reagan National Airport and killed everyone on board the two aircraft, investigators said.
Data from the American Airlines flight recorder showed an altitude of 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, when the collision happened Wednesday night, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials told reporters on Saturday.
Data in the control tower, though, showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet, the maximum allowed altitude for helicopters in the area.
The roughly 100-foot altitude discrepancy in the data has yet to be explained.
Investigators are working to retrieve data from the helicopter’s back box, which is taking more time because it became waterlogged after submerging into the Potomac River.
BLACK HAWK IN TOP SECRET ‘DOOMSDAY’ DRILL
The US Army Black Hawk which collided with a commercial jet above Washington DC was conducting top-secret training to prepare to evacuate President Donald Trump and other high ranking officials in a “doomsday” scenario.
The crew aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk chopper is responsible for evacuation missions meant to carry top officials to safety in the case of a national emergency such as a terrorist or nuclear attack, The New York Post reports.
In a press conference, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the soldiers “were on a routine, annual retraining of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission.
Mr Hegseth said he couldn’t reveal further details on “anything that’s classified” and that “the military does dangerous things”.
However, it is understood the drill was practising what would unfold during a worst-case scenario – namely if a foreign power were to invade or otherwise attack America.
The US has strict procedures in place to ensure the stability of its government, come what may.
Perhaps the most famous is the naming of a “designated survivor” who sits out major gatherings so they can take the reins of government if the rest of Congress is wiped out.
However, it is believed Mr Trump ignored protocol and did not name a designated survivor during his Inauguration Day festivities despite there being multiple attempts on his life during his election campaign.
Operations to salvage the wreckage continued Sunday as rescuers said 55 victims had so far been identified.
Washington fire chief John Donnelly said human remains of some of the 67 people killed in the crash had been found as efforts were made to lift the fuselage of the plane, adding that they were taken to the medical examiner.
“Tomorrow there’ll be some lifting operations on the wreckage that’s in the water,” he told a briefing Sunday.
“So far, 55 victims have been positively identified … from this accident,” he added.
Some 200 vessels were involved with the recovery and salvage efforts, the Coast Guard said.
“We will absolutely stay here and search until such point as we have everybody,” Donnelly said.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.
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CLEARER FOOTAGE OF THE COLLISION
Haunting new video footage has also emerged, giving the clearest view yet of the moment the American Airlines passenger plane and Army helicopter exploded into pieces — sending huge chunks of fiery debris crashing into the frigid water below.
The mobile phone footage, obtained by CNN, emerged alongside claims that questionable hiring polices implemented by the US Federal Aviation Authority may have played a role in the fatal crash.
The footage shows the Black Hawk helicopter’s red tail lights flashing as it flies directly toward the passenger jet, travelling from Wichita, Kansas, approaching the runway at Ronald Reagan National Airport about 9pm on Wednesday (1pm AEDT Thursday).
FLIGHT ABORTED AFTER FIRE ON UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT
Terrified passengers could be heard panicking in footage obtained by Fox 26.
Flames burst out of one of the airplane’s wings as the aircraft began to roll forward for take off.
United Airlines Flight 1382, an Airbus A320, aborted its takeoff from the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston, Texas, due to a “reported engine issue” just after 8:30am, the FAA said in a statement.
Passengers fled to the runway and were taken by the terminal by bus, the FAA added.
There were 104 passengers and five crew members on board at the time of the incident.
The flight was rescheduled for takeoff.
FEMALE SOLDIER NAMED
Meanwhile, the US Army has identified the female soldier aboard the doomed Black Hawk helicopter.
Captain Rebecca Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the Army said in a statement.
The Army had initially refused to identify Captain Lobach at the request of her family.
The decision to release her name came “at the request of and in co-ordination with the family,” according to the statement.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives,” her family said in a statement released by the Army.
“Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle.”
Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves were also on board.
It came as officials said the pilot of the American Airlines plane may have attempted a last second move to evade the collision.
“At one point, very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” National Transportation Safety Board Todd Inman said of the nose of the plane.
“That is something we will get you more detail on,” he said.
BLACK BOX FOUND AS TWO WARNINGS HEARD
The black box from the US Army chopper was recovered, investigators announced.
They are now reviewing that flight data recorder along with two recovered earlier from the jet.
“We have recovered the Sikorsky black box,” Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters.
Air traffic controllers also alerted the helicopter crew to the presence of the American Airlines jet twice, with the first warning issued two minutes before the crash.
Aviation experts who reviewed radio transmissions for The Washington Post said the Black Hawk helicopter responded each time by saying they could see the plane and requested “visual separation”. This request was approved twice.
Experts now suggest the crew may have seen something else and not the American Airlines flight flagged twice by the air traffic controller.
“If he was looking at the right airplane he wouldn’t have hit him,” retired National Transportation Safety Board investigator Scott Dunham told The Post. “They were miles apart. … The resolution literally takes seconds.”
In America’s deadliest aviation disaster since 2001, the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which had 60 passengers and four crew on-board exploded in a fireball and broke into three pieces. Three soldiers on the chopper were also killed.
The collision sparked a huge fireball, with large sections of the plane plunging into the icy Potomac River, where it was later found in three pieces.
Although Ronald Reagan National Airport reopened, two of its three runways remained closed to keep aircraft from flying over the crash scene, Terry Liercke, the airport’s vice president and manager said.
The Federal Aviation Administration has also heavily restricted helicopter traffic around the airport, the Department of Transportation said in a statement, hours after President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that the Army Black Hawk had been flying higher than allowed.
“The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Mr Trump said on Truth Social early Saturday.
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Originally published as Washington plane crash: Hero pilots’ last bid to save jet before crash