Josh Funk, Associated Press Transport Writer
A three-day investigative hearing in January about a fatal air collision in Washington begins Wednesday and aims to uncover new insights into the cause of the crash between the passenger who killed 67 people and an Army helicopter.
The National Transportation Safety Board has set up a hearing in Washington and has planned to question witnesses and investigators about how the actions of the Federal Aviation Administration and its air traffic controllers and the Army have contributed to the crash of the most deadly plane in the country since November 2001.
An American Airlines plane from Wichita, Kansas collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while entering the land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, welcoming officials and travelling public in the first crash in a near-crash mistake this year.
Animation, video shows crash
The hearing began Wednesday with video animations showing where the helicopters and airliner lead to the collision. It showed how the helicopter surpassed the 200-foot altitude limit for the helicopter route before colliding with the plane.
Investigators said Wednesday that the flight data recorders showed that the helicopters were actually 80 to 100 feet higher than the barometric altimeters the pilots relied on, indicating they were flying. Therefore, the NTSB conducted tests on three other helicopters from the same unit flying in the same area and found similar inconsistencies on the altimeter.
Previously disclosed air traffic control audio had twice told the helicopter pilot the controller that he would look at the plane and avoid it. The animation ended with surveillance video shown by a helicopter collides with an airplane in a violent crash.
Research shows that the FAA was unable to recognize the troublesome history of 85 arrival mistakes around Reagan Airport some years before the collision, and that Army helicopters routinely flew around Capitols across the nation with key location equipment known as the ADS-B out.
Air attorney Bob Clifford, who is about to file one of the first cases against the government next month, said he hopes the NTSB will go beyond the immediate factors that caused the crash and highlight the larger ongoing concerns in busy Washington airspace.
“In this particular example, there is a much wider picture. It’s a known issue where commercial aircraft were ignored about the unsafe environment for navigating with military aviation helicopters in the area,” Clifford said.
Suggested Changes
The final NTSB report will not be released until next year, but U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is not waiting to propose changes. He introduced a law on Tuesday requiring all aircraft operators to use ADS-B format or automatic dependent monitoring broadcasts. Most aircraft today are equipped with ADS-B out equipment, but airlines need to add a more comprehensive ADS-B to their planes.
“There is no double standard for aviation safety,” Cruz said. “Special exceptions to military training flights operating in busy airspace should not be tolerated.”
The law would revoke the exemption from the Department of Defense aircraft from ADS-B transmission requests. The FAA must also evaluate helicopter routes near the airport and require Army inspectors to consider the Army aviation safety practices.
NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy said her agency has been recommending the move for decades after several other crashes.
“In 2008, we wrote to the FAA and the Board believes that the equipment on aircraft with ADS-Bs is capable. We would like to highlight this, making an immediate and substantial contribution to safety, especially during the operation of the airport and its surroundings,” she said.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy wants to discuss “some adjustments,” but said the law is the “right approach.” He also suggested that the previous administration was “slept on the wheels” amid dozens of nearer mistakes in the airspace around Washington’s airspace.
“In the past, people were satisfied. The leaders were satisfied,” Duffy said.
“Factory investigation procedure”
Homedy said the hearing over the next few days will be a “fact-finding procedure.” Additionally, the NTSB will post thousands of pages of evidence from a crash investigation online Wednesday morning.
FAA administrator Brian Bedford predicts that “we’ll be having a very uncomfortable conversation over the next two and a half days,” but “they need to exist in the clear light of the day.
The hearing in Washington will involve NTSB board members, investigators and witnesses from organizations involved in the crash. The panel will focus on military helicopter routes in the Washington area, collision avoidance techniques, and training air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Federal authorities have also raised concerns about the country’s outdated, understaffed air traffic control system. During the January air collision across Washington, one controller was passing both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the busy airport.
Duffy has announced a multi-billion dollar plan to overhaul the use of system controllers that rely on older technologies such as floppy disks.
Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam, Ben Finley and Rio Yamat contributed to the story.
Original issue: July 30th, 2025 8:16am EDT
