Unpublished Army Report on Deadly Helicopter-Jet Crash Frustrates Victims' Families Who Got Copy Early
Family members of those killed in a January 2025 crash in which an Army Black Hawk helicopter hit a civilian airliner are irked over a new report that lets leaders off the hook.
Sixty-seven people died in the incident in which the helicopter and an American Airlines jet collided, with pieces of the wreckage falling into the frigid Potomac River.
An Army report listed multiple long-standing issues that contributed to the disaster, but did not say whether anyone was punished, according to The Washington Post.
When families of those killed on American Airlines Flight 5342 were able to preview the report, they encountered vast sections of redacted text.
“The Army owes the families and the American public a full accounting of how these risks were allowed to persist, who was responsible for the decisions that allowed them to persist and what will be done to make sure this never happens again,” Tim Lilley, a former Black Hawk pilot and commercial airline captain. His son, Sam Lilley, was the first officer on the doomed airliner.
“We again call for the Army Inspector General to perform the independent audit formally requested by 24 U.S. Senators well over a year ago: it’s time to do your job,” a group comprised of family members of passengers who were killed said..
The Post said the report “cites the Army for not resolving flaws in instruments that were known to give inaccurate altitude readings on older Black Hawk models — including the helicopter involved in the collision — or ensuring that pilots were aware of the problem.”
The report also said that the Army did not collect information on close calls or provide training on the dangers of flying in D.C.’s crowded airspace.
The report noted that at times, military helicopters and civilian jets were as little as 75 feet apart.
That matters a lot in this case, because older Black Hawk helicopters had barometric altimeters that could be off by 140 feet. Readings could be further skewed if a chopper was carrying extra fuel tanks, as was one the one that went down last January.
On Jan. 29, 2025, the altimeter on the doomed helicopter said it was 200 feet above the Potomac when it was actually 278 feet in the air.
A crash investigator faulted the report for redacting the Army’s findings on the performance of the altimeter.
“Air traffic controllers need to know that these crews may be seeing different variations than what they expect,” the investigator said.
The Army report further said the crew was likely using night-vision goggles “unable to discern the aircraft lighting” of the American Airlines plane from lights of objects on the ground.
The report also said the distances were likely distorted by night vision, which could have led the crew to fixate on the wrong aircraft instead of the one it hit.
Families called for safety reforms to be enacted, according to an Associated Press report posted by KTVN-TV.
“It’s a simple concept anyone can understand: aircraft should be able to see each other in the sky. The technology is proven. All that’s required is the political will to do the right thing,” the Families of Flight 5342 group said.
“We have waited long enough. We waited for the NTSB. We waited for the Army. Both investigations are complete, and both make clear that collision-avoidance technology must be part of the solution. There is nothing left for Congress to wait for,” they said.
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