Hero pilot Captain Sully reveals two key theories on what caused Washington plane crash
The search for remains of the American Airlines plane and Army helicopter collision in Washington DC continues today after more than 60 perished in the crash.
The victims included teen figure skaters returning from a national meet-up with their mothers and coaches, a university student returning from her grandfather’s funeral and a group of hunters headed back from a guided trip in Kansas.
A Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers collided with a passenger airline in the deadliest aviation crash in America since 2001.
Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger III, who famously landed a passenger plane in the Hudson River in 2009, has said he is ‘devastated’ by the tragedy.
Follow the latest updates on the Washington plane crash on Metro’s live blog
The crash occurred before 9pm in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
Questions remain about what led to the deadly crash – and Captain Sully has suggested two probable factors which led to the tragedy.
Speaking to the New York Times, he said: ‘We’ve had to learn important lessons literally with blood too often, and we had finally gotten beyond that, to where we could learn from incidents and not accidents.’
The collision occurred around 9 pm, in dark conditions and over water. The dark could have made it difficult for the airline pilots to see each other, Captain Sully said.
‘Nighttime always makes things different about seeing other aircraft — basically all you can do is see the lights on them.
‘You have to try to figure out: Are they above you or below you? Or how far away? Or which direction are they headed? Everything is harder at night.
‘There would have been fewer ground lights visible over the water than over land at night. It might have made it a little bit harder to see. But that’s a supposition. We don’t know.’
But on Good Morning America, he added that according to air traffic control, the aircraft did appear to see each other.
He added: ‘The air traffic controller was able to relieve himself of the requirement to have him separate the airplanes, and the pilots would have to separate from each other visually by identifying the other aircraft and staying a safe distance away.
‘Obviously, at some point, separation was tragically lost.’
President Donald Trump opened a news conference with a moment of silence honouring the crash victims, calling it an ‘hour of anguish’ for the country.
But he spent most of his time casting political blame, lashing out at former president Joe Biden’s administration and diversity efforts at the Federal Aviation Administration, saying they had led to slipping standards – even as he acknowledged that the cause of the crash was unknown.
Without evidence,Trump blamed air traffic controllers, helicopter pilots and Democratic policies at federal agencies.
He claimed that the FAA was ‘actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative’.
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