The National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday that the pilot of the American Airlines plane that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter earlier this week may have witnessed the incoming danger and tried to move the plane upward to avoid the crash.
In a press briefing where board members of the NTSB revealed new information about the collision earlier this week that killed 67 people, board member Todd Inman spoke about the “last second” movement of the plane.
“At one point, very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” Inman said of the nose of the plane. “That is something we will get you more detail on.”
The NTSB also revealed that, based on flight data, the Black Hawk was more than 100 feet above its designated height, with the collision occurring between 300 feet and 350 feet above the ground. The Black Hawk was not to exceed 200 feet in the route it was approved to take.
However, data from the air traffic control tower reviewed by investigators showed that the Black Hawk was at 200 feet at the time of the crash, the maximum approved height for the route. Investigators said they are looking into that discrepancy.
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“That’s what our job is — is to figure that out,” Inman said. “That’s what we’re doing.”
Late Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane carrying 64 passengers and a Black Hawk helicopter with three service members onboard collided just outside Reagan National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area, with the wreckage plunging into the freezing Potomac River. All 67 people died, and 41 bodies have since been recovered. The third service member on the Black Hawk was identified earlier Saturday after an initial delay by the U.S. Army.
