Black Hawk helicopter in D.C. plane crash had a safety system off, senator says
Army Blackhawk Helicopter Collision with American Eagle flights on the Potomac River Senator Ted Cruz told reporters Thursday that he was driving the safety system in the second half of last month, following a closed briefing from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Commission.
67 people on two planes were killed When they collided near Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC
Cruz is a Texas Republican and chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the aviation industry.
He said the senator was told that the helicopter has an automatic dependency monitoring broadcast (ADS-B) system. Military aircraft are allowed to fly with the system.
ADS-B provides detailed particle information to track aircraft location. The Blackhawk has a transponder, so it will appear on the radar and provide flight data, although the ADS-B is more accurate.
“Unless there is a compelling national security reason to shut it down, it doesn’t seem to make sense, in this case it’s a training task, so there’s no national security reason to shut down ADS-B.”
Former Army helicopter pilot Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) also noticed issues regarding safety systems.
“We don’t know… whether the helicopter actually has the ADSP on. It may not sound like it’s on, but the military is very clear that the equipment is actually installed on the plane.”
NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy told reporters that investigators at the agency have not confirmed whether the chopper is still equipped with the technology.
“We don’t know this at the moment,” Hogney said before describing the helicopter crew’s mission. “This is an annual inspection of night vision goggles.”
ADS-B data is the data stream fed to the air traffic controller, as well as the central radar and proximity radar. It blends it into a single display on the controller screen.
Even without ADS-B data, the involved controller has a track on the helicopter that shows it at an altitude of 300 feet. The controller stays in touch with the Black Hawk, which shows that it can see the plane and stay separate.
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) asked last week why the FAA allowed military flights as the ADS-B system was shut down.
The NTSB will seek to determine whether the system exists and is turned on – if not, why not – and whether its use may help avoid accidents, although there seems to be enough data to indicate that the situation should be clear, regardless.
Contributed to this report.
