A preliminary investigation into the aircraft collision in Washington D.C. has found the passenger plane and army helicopter were meant to be separated by 100 feet when they collided, according to data from flight recordings.

Washington

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC.

D.C. Crash

In Washington D.C., a preliminary investigation into an aircraft collision is underway following a crash involving a passenger plane and an army helicopter. Flight recordings reveal that the aircraft were intended to maintain a separation of 100 feet at the time of the collision. The timeline of events, as noted from the data, outlines a fleeting series of actions and responses.

At a certain point, the control tower queried whether the military helicopter had visual contact with the plane. Following this, the tower directed the helicopter to ensure maneuvering behind the passenger aircraft. Moments later, there was a noticeable increase in the pitch of the passenger plane, accompanied by a sound of impact, marking the end of the recording.

The brief duration of these critical events emphasizes the sudden nature of the collision. There is suggestion of a possible evasive maneuver by the passenger plane's crew, indicated by the increase in pitch, though specifics are not yet confirmed.



Crash data raises questions about aircrafts' altitude

A couple of other things, Jessica, he gave timelines that really, I mean, you could go over every second that he outlaid there, but basically, this unfolded in just a matter of a few seconds. A couple of things that we took note of here, at about 8.47.39 p.m. on Wednesday night, the control tower asked the military helicopter if the plane was in sight. Just a couple of seconds later, at 8.47.42, the control tower told the military chopper to pass behind the passenger plane, and this is crucial, this timepiece here, at 8.47.58, they heard a verbal reaction from the crew of the passenger plane, and then detected an increased pitch in the plane at that point. There was a sound of impact one second later. Again, I'll say it, at 8.47.58, the crew had a verbal reaction of some kind, and then there was an increased pitch of the passenger plane, there was a sound of impact one second later, and then the end of the recording. So Jessica, that was a pretty dramatic sequence of events, obviously unfolding in just a few seconds. And again, I think what we can take from this, the real headline here is that there may have been a very quick and sudden attempt to evade the collision by the passenger plane, because he said there was an increase in pitch of the plane. He was asked specifically, did the plane try to pull up? And he said, he didn't answer the question directly, but he said there was an increase in pitch. Now again, aviation experts, pilots, are going to be able to tell you better than I can what an increase in pitch means at that last second. But there may, Jessica, may have been an attempt by the passenger plane's crew, the pilots, to evade that collision.

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D.C. Crash