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WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The National Transportation Safety Board will statesman a three-day proceeding Wednesday to analyse the deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 radical successful January.
The hearings volition see NTSB committee members, investigators and witnesses for organizations progressive successful the crash. Panelists are expected to absorption connected subject chopper routes successful the Washington area, collision avoidance exertion and grooming for aerial postulation controllers astatine Ronald Reagan National Airport, among different subjects.
Aviation officials volition question witnesses and investigators astir however the actions of the Federal Aviation Administration, its aerial postulation controllers, and the Army whitethorn person contributed to the nation's deadliest level clang since 2001. It's apt excessively aboriginal for the committee to place the origin of the crash.
On Jan. 29, an American Airlines determination pitchy traveling from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a subject Black Hawk helicopter while landing astatine Reagan National adjacent D.C. Those who died see 64 radical who were connected the pitchy and 3 who were connected the UH-60 Black Hawk.
The incidental was the archetypal successful a string of crashes and near misses this twelvemonth that person alarmed officials and the traveling public, though statistic amusement flying remains the safest signifier of transportation.
DOT main Sean Duffy 'concerned' astir aviation near-misses
Although the last NTSB study won't beryllium released until sometime adjacent year, successful airy of a spate of recent aviation near-misses, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told NewsNation connected Tuesday, “Of people I americium concerned. The FAA is concerned. The American radical are concerned.”
Duffy told NewsNation helium and his bureau are “leaning into” the incidents and looking for solutions: “What is key, we are not ignoring it.”
Culture of adjacent misses led to crash: Father of co-pilot
Investigations person shown the FAA failed to admit a troubling past of 85 adjacent misses around Reagan Airport successful the years earlier the collision, and that the Army's helicopters routinely flew around the nation's superior with a cardinal portion of locating instrumentality turned off.
Tim Lilley, whose son Sam Lilley was the co-pilot connected the American Airlines pitchy progressive successful the crash, has demanded answers astir the Army’s hazard absorption practices. Speaking to “NewsNation Live” connected Monday, Lilley criticized what helium calls a culture of normalized risk and adjacent misses wrong subject aviation.
“I privation to find retired erstwhile it became commonplace to bash unsafe acts successful the 12th, similar asking for ocular separation, erstwhile it was a truly atrocious idea,” helium said. “We privation the Army to analyse data.”
He added, “These 64 victims, they’re not casualties of war. They’re casualties of a civilization that decided adjacent misses were okay, due to the fact that determination was many, galore adjacent misses that led to this thing.”
Lilley besides criticized the Army for what helium called a deficiency of accountability, saying it has hidden down the NTSB probe for six months without owning its relation successful the crash.
Kevin Bohn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
