Black Hawk Crew May Have Missed Key Warnings Before Fatal Midair Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Friday that the U.S. Army Black Hawk crew that crashed and killed one person at Reagan National Airport may have missed important air traffic control messages telling them to avoid a commercial regional jet. Twelve people from the Army team and sixty people on board the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, were killed in the crash on January 29. They were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara.

A stepped-on radio transmission may have made it so that the Black Hawk crew did not get a key message telling them to fly behind the commercial jet. The crew may have also been getting the wrong information about the altitude in the cockpit, which added to the uncertainty.

The crew of the Black Hawk probably wore them the whole trip, so the NTSB is also investigating whether the goggles' night vision made it harder to see. Initial results show that reported altitude levels are not always the same, adding to situational awareness worries.

As the investigation continues, experts are examining cockpit recordings and conversations between the plane and air traffic to determine what happened before the crash. What they find could have major effects on future air safety and military flying rules.

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