Washington plane, DC: All we know so far

Investigators are scrambling To find out why a military helicopter and a passenger plane collided and fell in the Botomac River in Washington, late on Wednesday, the first major air accident in the United States in 16 years.

Fate is known that the human error is likely to play a role, which raised questions about a chronic deficiency in air traffic and pilot monitors. The authorities may also consider coordination between the army and the civilian Flying.

It is clear that the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter apparently carrying three soldiers in the tail of the Bombardier CRJ-700 from Wachita, as it was less than a mile of landing at Reagan National Airport. The remains of both planes landed a few hundred feet in the shallow iceberg.

The passenger plane, which was run by the Psa Nealf of American Airlines, had 64 people on board, and police boats have already regained 27 bodies. The last tragedy of this murderous plane in the United States is the Coulgean flying crash in New York State in 2009.

Perhaps the helicopter was launched from a military base near the airport. In love video From the Kennedy Center, a smaller light can be seen, most likely, the helicopter, overlooking the brighter light of the plane, both of which fly on the ground. The two collide with a massive explosion, as they divide into several burning fragments.

A few minutes before arrival, air traffic controlled US Airlines flight if it could land on the runway 33, which is a shorter runway. The pilots said yes, apparently replacing the corridors during their approach. Some questioned whether this change in the flight path could have grabbed Black Hawk.

But the retired dean of the Air Force John Takert said Newsnation TV This should not have caused a crash. He said: “I think that although they have been told to replace the corridors, they are not this aggressive maneuver in a regional plane that would lead them to re -put it and be a surprise for Black Hawk.”

Marco Chan, a former pilot who heads experimental programs at the New Buckinghamshire University, said eighty percent of flight accidents around the world can be attributed to human error, and this is the main candidate in this case.

“Perhaps safety protocols were the human factors in play,” he says. “I do not like extracting conclusions early. In general, at the global level, after the epidemic, while the passenger number has largely bounced, I do not think that the workforce number has caught, in every aspect of aviation.”

He asked the helicopter monitoring if she had seen the plane, and was told “Dates behind CRJ”, which could have had the right to the road unless Black Hook was on an urgent military mission. It is not known whether the helicopter has responded.

Military flights sometimes work on radio frequencies different from passenger flights, so the passenger plane crew may not hear the tower that Black Hawk bets. Or there may be a jelly transition: if it is more than one side on the channel that is betting at the same time, which may prevent others from hearing the entire conversation.