Air traffic controller failed to warn the plane before the capital kills 67

A federal official said on Thursday that the air traffic controller failed to notify the crew with a commercial plane that an army helicopter was moving towards the plane before colliding in Washington, DC, in January 67 people were killed.

FAA’s first recognition of a possible error in the control tower in Ronald Reagan National Airport Before the deadly collision comes on the second day of the national listening sessions of the Safety Council Transportation in the field of safety resulting from what led to the crash of the air.

In the hearing, officials witnessed a large number of takeoff and landing at the airport, as well as a heavy helicopter movement, which led to the testing of air traffic control borders, according to the Washington Post.

Among the roads used on the night of the accident, the frequent use of allowing the helicopters to use their rule and skills to avoid other air traffic and the use of runway 33, which is shorter and requires planes arrive from the south to leave the usual flight and travel to the east.

The army helicopter that crashed with a commercial plane in the capital was flying above the height: NTSB

The control unit responsible for directing the Black Hawk helicopter flights and US Airways aircraft It reached Witchita, Kansas, to communicating with 21 different aircraft in 10 minutes before colliding with the Botomac River, according to NTSB President Jennifer Humini.

NTSB investigators have told the console – the helicopter and traffic management simultaneously – that he felt exhausted about 15 minutes before the accident, but this traffic faded at a later time, and felt more comfortable in managing the work burden.

During the session, Humandi pressed the Federal Aviation Administration officials about the sequence of communications with its arrival plane, which was run by the PSA regional transport company, according to the Washington Post.

“Should the local control unit allow the PSA crew to know the presence of a helicopter there?” Humandi asked.

Nick Fuller, Acting Second Officer of the FAA air traffic control branch, answered, adding that the control unit should have told the airline that the helicopter was using the visual separation and that “the targets would be likely to merge.”

The airport often witnessed approximately 80 exits and expatriates per hour, according to the Washington Post, citing an FAA email issued by NTSB this week.

Clark Allen, airport operations manager on the night of the accident, was asked on Thursday whether the tactics used by the control units are to endanger safety.

“They are paying the line,” Allen witnessed.

Control units told the investigators that they did not feel the external pressure to keep up with the pace, but the FAA managers described how US Airlines had a narrow schedule that has enhanced traffic effectively. The airline manager witnessed that it had tried to make changes after visiting the tower.

In the minutes before the accident, the console was looking for pilots ready to land on the 33rd runway to reduce the pressure on the main runway. The Washington Post indicated that a crew member has retreated and frequented US Airways flights from Whitchta before approval, according to a version issued this week. He sent them on the course of the rotation that would bring them directly to the Black Hawk path, which was using a road directly under the landing path.

The officials said that the heavy traffic management tactics have Gargon for the tower, including “Squeeze Play”, which includes pushing aircraft through Bay and landing With the minimum separation.

“It can impose a tax on a person, as you know, to constantly give, give, give, pay, pay or pay to move the traffic efficiently,” Allen witnessed.

NTSB launches a 3 -day survey session on the crash of the DCLY DC plane

He added: “Being a large and highly complex airport with a lot of real estate, you have to keep things moving.”

The airport’s pressure extended to the nearby air control facility that provokes aircraft to landing, Brian Leman, director of this facility, witnessed on Thursday.

“We have many non -standard tools that we use in order to be able to bring a large amount of aircraft to DCA … on a daily basis to make them work,” said Leman. “At a certain stage, it’s too much.”

The aircraft approaching the airport mostly on the south on the first runway, which is nearly 7,200 feet and capable of absorbing the large large airplanes at the airport. The runway 33, which is only 5,200 feet, crosses it at an angle. The 33 runway is available to control units as a form of relief valve.

After the accident on January 29, the Federal Aviation Administration reduced the aircraft arrival rate and said it would conduct a review. The agency said that the maximum arrival at the airport is 30 per hour.

Lehman said that he told the investigators that the American Airlines also found a way to avoid the borders on the number of flights every hour by filling it in 30 minutes.

“No one will stop them,” Leman said. “So, I don’t know how America has withdrawn a lot of this … but it is a wink, that people know what is going on.”

Naguwin Cindy, a traffic management official at the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington Province, told the investigators that the efforts made to obtain the airline. Space outside its flights To reduce the airport pressure has only a limited success.

Erik Silverman, US Airways Director, witnessed on Thursday that the representatives of the carrier had visited the tower while traveling from the Covid-19s.

“We have made changes where we can,” said Silverman.

There is another traffic management tactic that also contributed to the accident and it relies on the visual separation control units, where you see helicopters and avoid aircraft.

“The visual separation was used on a daily basis between the helicopters, the commercial traffic, departure and landing in DCA,” “The visual separation was extremely important to make the process work efficiently for the amount of size and complexity that had airspace.”

The console was examined with the helicopter crew to confirm that it could see the plane when it approaches, but it seems confused about the message and did not see a plane even moments before it crashed.

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FAA imposed limits on the use of the visual separation in the aftermath of the collision.

Recruitment At the airport, it has been a problem since the collapse, according to the NTSB Brian Super investigator, who said that the latest FAA data shows that although there were 26 control units dedicated to the tower, only 19 are available to work.

Super said: “Everyone we talked to with them was a great disturbance,” Super said.