Watch Live: NTSB hearing on deadly midair collision between plane and helicopter in D.C.
Three days of investigation audiences on Outdoor deadly collision Above Washington, in January, began on Wednesday, aimed at revealing new perspectives on what caused the accident between a passenger plane and an army helicopter that killed 67 people.
The National Transportation Safety Board opened the hearings in Washington, with plans to question witnesses and investigators on how the actions of the Federal Aviation Administration and its air traffic controllers and the army may have contributed to the deadliest plane accident in the country since November 2001. It is probably too early for the board of directors to identify the cause of the accident.
As the audience started, the NTSB played an 11 -minute animation which recreated events leading to the collision. At the end, he included a newly published surveillance video with a clear view of the Black Hawk helicopter approaching the plane path, followed by the impact of the air. Before playing video, families participating in the audience were allowed to leave the room.
Wichita Airlines Airlines, Kansas, collided with a Black Hawk helicopter While arriving on land at Ronald Reagan National Airport and was the first in a series of accidents and close failed This year, who have alarmed the leaders and the itinerant public, despite the statistics that show that the flight remains the safest transport form.
The surveys have already shown that the FAA has not recognized a disturbing story of 85 close Around Reagan Airport in the years preceding the collision, and that the Army helicopters Flied regularly around the country’s Capitol with key location equipment, known as ADS-B, deactivated.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images 
Several sources have told CBS News In February, the senior FAA officials pushed one of the three slopes at Reagan airport last summer after two tight calls between lines still on the ground.
The aviation lawyer, Bob Clifford, who strives to file one of the first lawsuits against the government next month, said that he hoped that NTSB would go beyond the immediate factors that this accident highlighted the largest concerns in progress in the crowded air space of Washington.
“In this particular case, there is a much broader image. And it is the known problems that were ignored on a dangerous environment for commercial aircraft to navigate with the military aviation helicopters of the region,” said Clifford.
Legislation required improved technology
Even if the NTSB final report will not be published until next year, Senator Ted Cruz does not wait to offer changes. He introduced legislation on Tuesday that would oblige all operators to use the two forms of ADS-B, or automatic dependent surveillance surveillance, technology to disseminate planes location to other planes and air traffic controllers. Most aircraft are now equipped with ADS-B equipment, but airlines should add the more complete ADS-B to technology to their planes.
“There cannot be a double standard in air security,” said Cruz. “We must not tolerate special exceptions for military training flights, operating in a congestioned airspace.”
The legislation would revoke an exemption from requests for ADS-B transmission for the aircraft of the Ministry of Defense. The FAA would also have evaluated Helicopter routes Near airports and require the army inspector general to examine the aeronautical security practices of the army.
The president of the NTSB Jennifer Homendy said that her agency recommended this decision for decades after several other accidents.
“In 2008, we sent a letter to the FAA declaring that the board of directors considers that the equipment of the plane with ADS-B in capacity will provide-and I want to underline this-an immediate and substantial contribution to security, in particular during operations in and around airports,” she said.
Transport secretary, Sean Duffy, said that even if he would like to discuss “a few adjustments”, the legislation is “the right approach”. He also suggested that the previous administration “slept behind the wheel” in the middle of the dozens of almost-me in the airspace around Washington airspace.
“In the past, people have become complacent – the leaders have become complacent,” said Duffy.
A “research procedure”
Mumendy said hearings in the coming days will be an “information procedure”. In addition, the NTSB will also display thousands of evidence of the online crash survey Wednesday morning.
The FAA administrator, Bryan Bedford, said that he expected that “we are going to have very uncomfortable conversations in the next two and a half days”, but that they “must have had clear day – and simply put the best interest of the itinerant public before one of our personal interests, perhaps”.
Washington hearings will involve members of the Board of Directors of the NTSB, investigators and witnesses for organizations involved in the accident. The panels will focus on the military routes of helicopters in the Washington region, collision avoidance technology and the training of air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport, among other subjects.
Federal officials have also raised concerns about the overwhelming and sub-personal air traffic control system. During the January air accident above Washington, a controller restoring both the circulation of airlines and commercial helicopters at the very busy airport.
Duffy has announced a plan of several billion dollars to revise the use of system controllers based on old technologies such as floppy disks.
contributed to this report.
