THE fatal errors that caused the deaths of 67 people when a passenger plane smashed into a Black Hawk over the Potomac River have been made crystal clear in newly released footage. As bodies continue to be pulled from the wreckage in Washington DC, the Federal Aviation Administration is banning helicopters from entering the skies above. On Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth admitted that an "elevation mistake" saw the Army-operated helicopter flying in the path of the American Airlines plane before 9 pm on Wednesday.
The crash killed all involved , including 60 American Airlines passengers and four flight crew members , plus the three soldiers operating the Black Hawk for a training mission. It is the deadliest US air crash since November , when people died after an American Airlines plane plunged into a Queens neighborhood. As of Friday, the FAA started imposing new flight restrictions on helicopters operating near the airport. The lethal mistakes have now been captured in newly released angles obtained by CNN , and disturbed viewers are left with more fears and questions than ever before.
In the footage, the Black Hawk can be seen flying over the river as the passenger plane makes its final descent to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The Black Hawk appeared to briefly stay level as it continued flying south, but it quickly arced downward into the Potomac nose first. Viewers were horrified by the video of the crash that's sparked fears over air traffic controller working conditions, diversity hiring efforts, and Army training missions.
One furious X user said, "There's no way they didn't see that plane. Another wrote, "It boggles my mind as to why any aircraft in this case the helicopter are permitted to be anywhere near the paths of airport runways unless they're taking off or landing there. Flight records from the Federal Aviation Administration have revealed exactly what happened in the moments before the crash.
The helicopter pilot asked for permission from the air traffic controller to fly the predetermined path through the commercial airspace, The New York Times reported.
