Black Hawk Pilot Rebecca Loback did not hear his co-pilot before hitting American Airlines flight
On 29 January, the US saw its worst aviation tragedy when a black Hawk helicopter Ronald Reagan hit an American airlines plane on the Potomac River near the National Airport, killing everyone on both aircraft. Three months after the tragedy, the New York Times investigation has now revealed that there was no misconception that caused an accident, but there was a wire of complex failures behind the deadly accident.
Black Hawk Pilot failed to focus on its co-pilot
The crew of the army was conducting the annual assessment of Captain Rebecca M Lobback to ensure that his helicopter piloting skills were equal. That night his job was for the terms of a scenario in which members of Congress or other senior government officials may need to be taken out of the country’s capital in the event of an attack, in the NYT report.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyid Ews was his instructor. In the final seconds before the effect, Warrant Officer Eves told Captain Lobac that the air traffic controller wanted him to turn left. But there was no indication that she turned to the left.
Black Hawk probably didn’t see American Airlines flight
The Air Traffic Controller flagged off American Airlines Jet, but the Black Hawk Crew probably did not detect it or did not pive in a safe position.
The controller could be given more necessary warnings
The controller alerted Black Hawk about the American Airlines aircraft, but did not issue a clear, immediate instructions citing aviation experts. As soon as two aircraft went close to each other, the controller issued a instruction to the helicopter crew: near the airplane. He could tell the Black Hawk Crew where Flight 5342 was deployed and how it was bound.
In addition, the controller did not alert American Airlines pilots.
Radio communication broke
The report said that some instructions of the controller were cut and perhaps Black Hawk Pilots did not hear what the controller said.
Controller pulled a complex combination
The NYT report stated that the controller was near the end of its innings and pulled a very complex and risky combination. The route from which the helicopter was flying and the runway jet that was using formed a dangerous combination.
Wichita, ear. The landing of flight 5342 was considered part of that maneuver. To pull it, the controller clearly decided to blow up the flight that is not commonly used runway 1, but low-use runway 33, which is a narrow vertical place between landing slopes and maximum height for a jet, on which the helicopter, route 4 can fly, using a certain passage.
