The pilots flying the American Airlines Flight 5342 that collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, made a heroic attempt to save everyone on board, new data shows.
The jet carried 64 passengers, and the helicopter was carrying three soldiers who retraining the president’s emergency evacuation route, which is a part of a contingency plan for the continuity of government.
At the time of the crash, the plane was attempting to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Unfortunately, there are no survivors.
Rescue teams have not recovered all of the bodies up to this point.
Data from the plane’s black box revealed that the pilots, 34-year-old Campos, and his 28-year-old co-pilot Lilley, made a desperate final attempt to pull the plane up seconds before the crash.
“At one point just before impact, there was a slight increase in pitch,” said Todd Inman, an official from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), during a press conference on February 1.
Inman also noted that while they don’t have data from the helicopter, “an impact obviously occurred, and typically, that indicates the altitude of both aircraft at that moment.”
Preliminary data from the plane’s black box showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of both aircraft.
At the time of the collision over the Potomac River, the American Airlines plane was flying at an altitude of 325 feet, with a margin of error of 25 feet.
Meanwhile, control tower data indicated that the Black Hawk helicopter was flying at approximately 200 feet—the maximum safe operating altitude for helicopters in the area.
Investigators hope to resolve the altitude discrepancies once they analyze data from the helicopter’s black box, which was recovered but waterlogged.
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