Wednesday was the first of three days of hearings where investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are working to uncover insights into what caused the fatal crash between the passenger jet and the army helicopter over Ronald Reagan National Airport in January.
Findings so far show that the helicopter was above the altitude limit and there were discrepancies in its altimeter.
The collision between the Army Black Hawk helicopter and the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, which was on its landing approach, killed 67 people on both aircraft. The crash was the country’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001, according to The Associated Press.
“This hearing is a critical part of our ongoing investigation,” NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said in her opening remarks, per CBS News. “Please know that we are working diligently to make sure we know what occurred, how it occurred, and to prevent it from ever happening again.”
During the first day of the hearings the NTSB showed an animation recreating the collision, played audio and video from that night and questioned witnesses and investigators about how the Federal Aviation Administration and its air traffic controllers and the Army could have contributed to the crash, per The AP.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy speaks during the NTSB fact-finding hearing on the DCA midair collision accident, at the National Transportation and Safety Board boardroom, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington. | Rod Lamkey
Findings show the Black Hawk helicopter was above the altitude limit
On Wednesday the hearing opened with a video animation that showed where the helicopter and passenger jet were leading up to the collision.
The animation showed that the helicopter flew above the 200 feet altitude limit for the helicopter route along the Potomac River before it collided with the plane, per The AP.
Discrepancies in the helicopter’s altimeter’s accuracy
According to The AP, investigators shared that the helicopter was actually 80 feet to 100 feet higher than the barometric altimeter, that the pilots relied upon, showed.
“I am concerned there is a possibility that what the crew saw was very different than what the true altitude was,” Homendy said, according to ABC News.
The NTSB conducted three tests on other helicopters from the same unit flying over the same area and found similar discrepancies in the altimeters.
Video and audio show what happened seconds before the collision
The video and audio that was played during Wednesday hearings showed what happened in both the plane and the helicopter just seconds before the collision.
Family members of the victims of American Airlines flight 5342 who perished in a collision with a U.S. military helicopter, react while watching a video of the moment of the crash, during the NTSB fact-finding hearing on the DCA midair collision accident, at the National Transportation and Safety Board boardroom, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington. | Rod Lamkey
Around 20 seconds before the crash the plane’s pilots received a warning from the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System noting “traffic” but it didn’t give them a resolution advisory to take action, per CBS.
Just one to two seconds before the collision occurred, there’s the sound of a click before one of the pilots exclaimed, “Oh,” followed by an expletive. A document released from the investigation shows that the pilots pulled back on the yoke fully, trying to avoid the collision.
In the helicopter, just 15 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the pilot if it had the jet in sight. Three seconds later the controller instructed the Black Hawk to pass behind the plane, but the helicopter crew keyed its microphone at the same time and never heard the instruction, according to ABC News.
Witnesses and investigators share concerns over the helicopter’s route
According to The AP, one concern raised during Wednesday’s hearings is that the FAA had approved routes around the airport that had such small separation distances between helicopters and planes.
Lance Gant, right, of the Federal Aviation Administration, listens as Dan Cooper, left, of Sikorsky Aircraft, responds to questions during the NTSB fact-finding hearing on the DCA midair collision accident, at the National Transportation and Safety Board boardroom, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington. | Rod Lamkey
“The fact that we have less than 500 foot separation is a concern for me,” said Scott Rosengren, chief engineer in the office that manages the Army’s utility helicopters, per The AP.
Rosengren added that if he could, he would retire all the older Black Hawk models like the one in the crash and replace them with newer models.
Army officials and other witnesses testified that they believe they would never be allowed to fly that helicopter route anytime a plane was approaching the landing, according to The AP.
Lawmakers propose legislation to prevent similar crashes in the future
On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced legislation that would “require all aircraft operators to use both forms of ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, the technology to broadcast aircraft location data to other planes and air traffic controllers,” per CBS News.
Emergency response units assess airplane wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kan., collided with a helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. | Andrew Harnik
Today, most aircraft are equipped with ADS-B Out equipment but airlines would have to add the more comprehensive ADS-B In technology to their aircraft.
“There cannot be a double standard in aviation safety,” Cruz said, per CBS News. “We should not tolerate special exceptions for military training flights, operating in congested air space.”
This legislation would get rid of an exemption on ADS-B transmission requests for Department of Defense aircrafts, per The AP.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the legislation is “the right approach,” but he would like to discuss “a few tweaks.”