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(NewsNation) — The National Transportation Safety Board on Friday are wrap up its public testimony over the Jan. 29 midair collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane over Washington, D.C.
Investigators so far have highlighted several factors that may have contributed to the collision, which left 67 people dead. Chairperson Jennifer Homendy urged the Federal Aviation Administration to “do better," citing warnings about helicopter traffic the agency had ignored years before the crash.
The board has said it’s too early to identify the exact cause of the crash and that a final report will not be released until next year.
It became clear Wednesday how small the margin of error was for helicopters flying the route the UH-60 Black Hawk took the night of the nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001.
The incident was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year that have alarmed officials and the traveling public, though statistics show flying remains the safest form of transportation.
Concerns of military helicopters flying near Reagan National
Witnesses described the challenges of identifying aircraft at night, noting pilots often request to use visual separation, basically relying on their eyesight to avoid other aircraft. That’s what the Army Black Hawk pilot had agreed to do the night of the Jan. 29 crash.
However, Rick Dressler, an official with medevac operator Metro Aviation, told the board that spotting aircraft near Reagan National Airport at night is extremely difficult, particularly if the onboard locator system is off, which is often the case for Army helicopters.
“I don’t like saying this. I’ll say it again on the record,” said Dressler, a former Army aviator and retired Air Force officer. “I’m speaking for my group there. We are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating.”
Dressler said he and other civilian helicopter pilots in the area have long been concerned about the military helicopters flying around the airport.
Clark Allen, an FAA training manager who worked at Reagan’s control tower, confirmed visual separation between helicopters and commercial flights is used routinely.
NTSB: Black Hawk helicopter was above altitude limit
NTSB board members revealed the Black Hawk was flying above its altitude limit when it collided with the American Airlines regional jet, which was traveling from Wichita, Kansas.
A video animation was presented, showing the path of the helicopter and airliner leading up to the collision, and how the helicopter flew above the 200-foot altitude limit before colliding with the plane.
Investigators on Wednesday said the flight data recorder showed the helicopter was flying 80 to 100 feet higher than was indicated by the barometric altimeter, which pilots rely on to determine altitude. The NTSB conducted tests on three other helicopters from the same unit during a flight over the same area and found similar discrepancies.
Previously disclosed air traffic control audio showed the helicopter pilot telling the controller twice that they saw the airplane and would avoid it. The presentation ended with surveillance video showing the helicopter colliding with the plane in a fiery crash.
Older Black Hawk helicopter models had transmission system issues: NTSB
The NTSB said during the hearing that all eight of the older Lima-model Black Hawk helicopters used by the 12th Aviation Battalion had issues with their ADS-B, or local transmission systems, including the one involved in January’s crash.
The ADS-B systems had an issue in which they incorrectly entered time settings, hindering pilots’ abilities to transmit location data to other aircraft.
It was not discovered or fixed until after the crash.
The Army has ordered 1,700 new ADS-B systems to upgrade its helicopter fleet, and the 12th Aviation Battalion will be prioritized for receiving these upgrades.
NewsNation's Libbey Dean and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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