(WASHINGTON) — The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday continued to grill officials from the Army, air traffic controllers and members from the Federal Aviation Administration over protocols following the January deadly air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA.)
The hearing, the second of three days, is focused on the training guidance of the parties involved in the Jan. 29 incident that resulted in the deaths of 67 people. NTSB started the daylong hearing examining the responsibilities and readiness of DCA’s air traffic controllers.
Clark Allen, the former operations manager of the control tower at DCA, was asked Thursday about the training for the air traffic controllers. Allen said they have been trained to flag a supervisor and ask for additional help if they are being overwhelmed, but said there is no training for supervisors to proactively look out for that pile up of duties.
Officials acknowledged Wednesday that high turnover among air traffic controllers was a serious issue.
On Wednesday, the NTSB revealed that the pilots of a Black Hawk helicopter likely didn’t know how high they were flying or how close they were to an airliner before the deadly crash — potentially because of faulty altimeters inside the series of Black Hawk helicopters like the one they were flying.
Nick Fuller, the FAA’s acting deputy chief operating officer of operations, testified Thursday that it is up to the pilot to maintain visual separation while in the air.
“It is the pilot’s responsibility, but air traffic controllers will go the extra mile to make sure we are providing extra information as necessary,” he said.
Later asked if DCA was safe for flights, Fuller said it was.
“The controllers at DCA are responsible, well trained and I would have no problem leaving on a flight in or out of that airport,” he said.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy alleged on Wednesday that some FAA tower employees knew there “was a problem” with U.S. Army helicopters flying in close proximity to passenger aircraft near the airport.
The agency also revealed that the warnings to the helicopter from air traffic control were “stepped on” as a microphone button was being pushed at the same time as the controller.
Homendy, however, said it’s possible that the midair collision was not due to pilot error.
“So it’s always easy for people to focus on there was a pilot error here. We don’t know. We’re going to look but it’s possible there was zero pilot error here,” she told reporters Wednesday.
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