The air tragedy that occurred on Thursday morning has plunged the US into mourning. According to all the authorities, the 64 occupants on the plane (60 passengers and 4 crew members) and the three who were on the helicopter are dead.
The US president pledged to find the causes of the tragedy and measures would be taken to prevent it from being repeated. But what are the data that exists and what are the questions that ask for answers.
What happened?
Dawn on Thursday. Flight 5342 had departed from Wichita, Kansas and was scheduled to land in Washington at 9pm (local time; at 04:00 Greek time). According to American Airlines, 64 people, 60 passengers and four crew members were on the passenger aircraft. There were three people on the military helicopter.
From the collision in the air the two aircraft were found on the river. The plane was cut into three pieces, while the helicopter was found upside down at the bottom of the river. All debris is at a depth of 1.5 to 2.5 meters.
What does the communication of the control tower with the helicopter pilot show?
Wall Street Journal reports reports that the air traffic controller had ordered.
Shortly after 8:47 pm On Wednesday, an air traffic controller at Ragan National Airport broadcast a seemingly ordinary question and directive: “PAT25, do you have the CRJ in visual contact?” He asked a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, asking him to keep his mind on a American Airlines Bombardier aircraft carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Kan’s Wichita. The helicopter was on an educational mission, as officials would later say.
“PAT25, go behind the CRJ,” the auditor said at the time, as the American Airlines flight 5342 descended over the Potomak River a few moments before landing. “CRJ” is the abbreviation of aviation for the Canadair Regional Jet.
What could have led to the tragedy?
SOURCE: GUARDIAN
From the beginning what is considered as a most likely cause of the tragedy is human error. Initially the weight fell on air traffic controllers, but it turned out to be a communication between the control tower and the helicopter.
- Why did the control tower contacted the helicopter: Unlike airplanes, helicopters receive instructions according to visual contact. The control tower asked the pilot if he had an eye contact with the aircraft and when he got a positive response he asked him to pass behind him.
- Was the pilot confused? According to the data available at that time there were at least two aircraft in the visual field of the helicopter pilot. One in his straight and in the background and the other (with which he eventually clashed) to his left. It is not excluded that the pilot saw the first plane and not the second.
- The given mistake: The helicopter and fatal aircraft were flying exactly the same height. According to the helicopter stigma, this changed no way but at the last minute in an effort to avoid the conflict but it was late.
What are the next steps?
The competent authorities of the Army and the Federal Civil Aviation Authority will receive deposits from all those involved to reach the final finding. The human error seems to be the dominant scenario, however, all the data from the black boxes and the conversations between the K, the aircraft and the helicopter must be analyzed.
Especially the latter is crucial, since the script the helicopter pilot, who was on a training flight, saw another aircraft from the one he eventually collided with is extremely likely.
Why had pilots complain in the past?
The crash brought to the surface the complaints that the pilots had often made at Ragan Airport. Some pilots had complained that the airspace around Ragan National Airport has become overly full and potentially dangerous, Virginia Governor Glenn Yangkin was asked about the issue on Thursday morning.
“This will be an extremely important research because it is a very busy area,” the Republican ruler told CNN. “This is a busy area that was safe and what happened here is something we need to get to the edge to understand it so that it never happens again.”
Has there happened an accident again at the same point?
On January 13, 1982, almost 43 years ago today, the devastating crash of Air Florida flight 90 claimed the lives of 74 people. The commercial aircraft would fly from Washington National Airport (today’s Ragan National Airport) to South Florida when it collided with the 14th Street Bridge, located just a few kilometers from the White House. The collision caused the aircraft to fall into the frozen waters of the Potomak River. The collision has crushed many vehicles on the bridge, causing four drivers to lose their lives.
Seventy passengers and four crew members aboard Boeing 727 died in the crash. Miraculously, five survivors managed to escape the sinking plane.
- What he made then: Research on the accident has revealed that a combination of difficult weather conditions and human error is responsible. A strong snowstorm had hit Washington, resulting in ice and snow on the wings of the airplane. Delays at the airport contributed to prolonged time on the ground, which led the crew to handle the aircraft in unsafe conditions, USA Today said.
- What the report said: According to a report by the Federal Civil Aviation Service, the crash happened because ice and snow accumulated on the wings of the plane while on the ground at Washington National Airport. The ice made the right flight of the plane. When the plane took off, it could not get enough speed or height due to ice on the wings, losing control. The FAA report concluded that ice was the main problem, as it prevented the plane from gaining enough lifting to stay safe in the air.
What do we know about tragedy
- On flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft, there were 60 passengers and four crew members. The three soldiers on the helicopter, a Sikorsky H-60, were making an educational flight.
- Rescue crews pulled 28 corpses from the plane and one from the helicopter. Confirmation of the death of all occupants will make the crash the most deadly air destruction on US territory in the last 23 years.
- Among the passengers of the aircraft were American art athletes, coaches and relatives who returned from a training camp. Russian media reported that two former world champions were on the plane.
- President Trump accused the diversity programs for the crash, without listing, introducing a party note shortly after the loud moment of unity and lament.
