The Army Blackhawk pilot involved in the Washington, DC plane crash failed to follow her flight instructor’s warning, just 15 seconds before the deadly crash that killed 67 people, a new report shared.
Moment before the incident arose near the Reagan International Airport, Captain Rebecca Lobach missed an order from co-pilot Andrew Eaves, who was overseeing her training mission, to change course and avoid the descending Americans Airlines jet.
The New York Times says that, other than this error, officials found that the pilots followed some of the air traffic controller’s instructions. This means they accidentally cut him off when pressing the button to talk over the radio and likely missed the crucial details.
A crucial moment occurred around 8:46 pm, when Eaves requested and received approval for the helicopter’s pilots to use their own visuals instead of air traffic control to avoid other air traffic. The move is a common step to speed things up, but of course, this comes with the risk of more human error.
During this moment, investigators believe Eaves and Lobach failed to hear that the American Airlines plane was circling because one of them was pressing the microphone key to speak to air traffic control when the word came through.point 312 |
20 seconds before the collision, the air traffic controller again confirmed if they saw the plane, and no response came in, after which a deadly crash occurred.point 134 | 1