With no survivors anticipated to be discovered, the main target is popping to how a navy helicopter on a coaching train collided with an American Airways passenger jet.
What we all know up to now
At 8.47pm, with the aircraft at 600ft and getting ready to cross over the river, an air site visitors controller contacted the helicopter’s pilot to inform them to go behind the aircraft.
“PAT25 [military helicopter] do you’ve gotten the CRJ [passenger jet] in sight? PAT25, go behind the CRJ.”
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Audio exhibits air site visitors controller instructing navy helicopter to keep away from passenger jet.
Airport safety cameras captured the helicopter on a collision course with the aircraft within the remaining seconds earlier than the crash.
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CCTV footage exhibits mid-air crash in Washington, DC.
Flight monitoring web sites overpassed the aircraft at 8.48.03pm native time. Its final reported altitude was 275ft.
Seconds after the crash, a puff might be heard coming from the air site visitors management room.
“Did you see that?” somebody asks.
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Audio from the air site visitors management room was captured seconds after the crash.
The emergency alert was sounded round one minute later, at 8.48pm.
“Crash crash crash – that is Alert 3,” rang the alert over the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Public Security communications system.
“It is on the, uh… approaching runway 3-3. Approaching runway 3-3. Helicopter crash.”
After a number of minutes, somebody asks to substantiate the small print.
“You stated that was a helo and a CRJ?”
“That’s affirmative. A helo and a CRJ approaching at 3-3.”
“Okay. What number of souls on board?”
“We have no of that info.”
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Audio from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Public Security communications system was captured detailing the moments after the crash.
Police started to obtain experiences of a crash at 8.53pm. By 8.58pm, the primary emergency response automobile had arrived on the web site and reported an plane within the water.
Six minutes later, at 9.04pm, the search and rescue mission was launched, with the primary boat arriving at 9.11pm.
Why did the plane collide?
Transport secretary Sean Duffy advised a press convention that the crash was “completely preventable”.
Requested if the aircraft was conscious there was a helicopter within the space, Mr Duffy replied: “I might say the helicopter was conscious that there was a aircraft within the space.”
A map printed by the Federal Aviation Administration, which manages US airspace, advises helicopters flying to the east of the airport alongside the Potomac River to remain under 200ft.
Flight monitoring knowledge, nevertheless, exhibits the navy helicopter had shortly ascended to 300ft earlier than the crash – 100ft above the beneficial altitude.
Final tracked areas for each flights, in keeping with knowledge from Flightradar24. Pic: Google Earth
It is unclear if the helicopter took any motion in response to the warning issued by air site visitors management.
Andrew Nicholson, chief govt of aviation safety agency Osprey Flight Options, advised Sky Information that Black Hawk helicopters are sometimes very able to avoiding obstacles within the sky, although a lot of issues might have gone incorrect to trigger the crash.
Former air site visitors controller Michele Robson suggests the directions from the air site visitors tower might have been clearer, particularly contemplating there was one other aircraft, an Airbus A319, within the helicopter’s line of sight.
“I might anticipate them to have specified the airline as effectively in order that there wasn’t any confusion,” she says.
Ms Robson says it is attainable that the helicopter pilot thought the Airbus, which was 9.2km away, was the a lot smaller American Eagle aircraft simply 4.5km away.
“In the dead of night in a metropolis surroundings with a lot of lights, and at that distance, I do not assume the helicopter would have been capable of inform what sort [of plane] the Airbus was that distant, so could have simply assumed.
“The CRJ and Airbus look fairly totally different, however at the hours of darkness it will make it a lot tougher.”
Timeline exhibits how the crash response unfolded
The Data and Forensics group is a multi-skilled unit devoted to offering clear journalism from Sky Information. We collect, analyse and visualise knowledge to inform data-driven tales. We mix conventional reporting abilities with superior evaluation of satellite tv for pc photographs, social media and different open supply info. By way of multimedia storytelling we intention to higher clarify the world whereas additionally exhibiting how our journalism is completed.
