In the final seconds of their flight in the Washington, D.C. area on Jan. 29, the pilots aboard an Army Black Hawk helicopter discussed turning east toward the bank of the Potomac River, a maneuver that, had they had time to complete it, could have saved scores of lives.
The change might have removed the helicopter from the direct line of American Airlines Flight 5342 as it was trying to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
“Alright, kinda come left for me ma’am, I think that’s why he’s asking,” the instructor pilot said to the Army pilot flying the helicopter, referring to guidance from the air traffic controller.
“Sure,” the pilot replied, according to a transcript released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday morning.
“We’re kinda —” the instructor said, without finishing.
“Oh-kay. Fine,” the pilot said.
“Out towards the middle,” the instructor said, likely referring to the Potomac River they were overflying.
Approximately two seconds later, they crashed into the plane.
Those statements, which were captured on a cockpit voice recorder that was recovered from the scene of the crash, were released Wednesday morning by the N.T.S.B. near the start of a three-day hearing on the facts of the midair collision, which killed the three soldiers aboard the helicopter as well as 64 civilians aboard an American Airlines flight that was en route to Washington from Wichita, Kan.
The new documents, which include a transcript of the cockpit conversation between Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, the pilot flying the Black Hawk, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, the instructor pilot, suggest that while Mr. Eaves understood that the air traffic controller wanted the pilots to veer left, to a safer position, the imminent danger of their predicament was not entirely clear.
The commercial jet that Black Hawk was asked to avoid was landing on a trajectory bound for Runway 33, a rarely used runway for arrivals at National Airport and one that the helicopter crew may not have considered as part of their flight plan.
The N.T.S.B. has noted that the helicopter route used on Jan. 29 places those aircraft in dangerous proximity to planes landing on Runway 33. On the board’s recommendations, the Federal Aviation Administration has since suspended helicopter traffic along the route the Black Hawk took in January, when Runway 33 is in use.
The N.T.S.B.’s preliminary findings, which were released in March in summary form, suggested, without nuance, that Capt. Lobach and Mr. Eaves noted different readings on their respective altitude measures in the cockpit and that Mr. Eaves indicated that Capt. Lobach should turn left shortly before the Black Hawk crashed into the commercial jet.
Kate Kelly covers money, policy and influence for The Times.
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