NTSB: Black Hawk was flying too high at time of accident

The entire country was horrified on January 29, 2025, when reports broke that a Black Hawk helicopter flying the route down the Potomac River had collided with an American Airlines flight, sending both aircraft into the river.

The river is a popular route for helicopter traffic, but due to heavy air traffic coming into Reagan National, they are restricted to flying no more than 200 feet off the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has now confirmed that the Blackhawk was flying too high, at approximately 300 feet, at the time of the accident.

Doomed

They still do not have the exact information, as the radar only rounds up and down from the nearest 100 feet.

In this case, it means that since the radar showed the helicopter flying at 300 feet, it could have been anywhere from 251 feet to 349 feet. Either way, it was over the restriction.

According to the plane’s data, it was flying at 325 feet, so the error appears to have clearly been on the Black Hawk pilot.

The data from the plane’s black box also showed that the pilot of the plane tried to pull up at the last second to avoid the Blackhawk as it approached.

The Black Hawk was on a training mission, ironically to clear pilots for flying that particular route and familiarize them with the heavy traffic and very specific restrictions.

Salvage teams recovered the American Airlines plane first, then the Black Hawk will be recovered later this week.

A total of 67 people lost their lives in the crash, making it the worst commercial crash in decades.

All 67 bodies have been recovered, with 66 of them having already been identified.

All but three of them were on the passenger plane.