The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is set to hold three days of investigative hearings to question Army and FAA officials and present its findings from the ongoing investigation into the January midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Reagan National Airport. The hearings will focus on various topics, including the helicopter’s altimeters and data systems, air traffic control, collision avoidance systems, and safety management systems. Witnesses include personnel from the Army, American Airlines, and the Federal Aviation Administration. The NTSB is expected to release thousands of pages of evidence in a public docket on Wednesday morning. The NTSB recommended to the FAA to require Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADSB) on all aircraft nearly two decades ago, as it is a game-changer in safety. The NTSB’s preliminary report found that there is no indication the Black Hawk crew could tell it was on a collision course with Flight 5342, and the pilots may have had bad information from their altimeter.
The NTSB has initiated public hearings on the DC plane crash.
