Major detail revealed about American Airlines plane crash that killed 67 people as new data released
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images
Last week (29 January), American Airlines Flight 5342 was involved in a mid-air collision with a United States Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C.
The PSA jet, which was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, was landing at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it was struck by a Sikorsky H-60 military helicopter carrying three soldiers on a training flight.
The crash tragically claimed the lives of 67 people onboard both aircrafts, making it the deadliest crash in the US since November 12, 2001, when a plane crashed into a New York City neighbourhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
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Following the devastating crash, American Airlines has confirmed there will never be another Flight 5342 for the airline.
On Friday (31 January) a statement was shared with People confirming that the identification number Flight AA5342 would no longer exist.
"Flight AA5342 will not be used for any future American Airlines flights,” the airline confirmed. The airline’s decision to retire the flight number AA5342 is a common industry practice in the event of a tragedy.
The latest update sees a major detail revealed following brand-new data being released to the public.
In a briefing on Saturday (1 February), officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) told reporters that the Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the American Airlines plane of between 300 and 350 feet above the ground - meaning it was flying more than 100 feet higher than it was authorised, according to information from an air traffic control radar (via PEOPLE).
According to The Independent, the reason for this has not yet been explained, however, it is being investigated.
The helicopter's black box has since been recovered from the wreckage in the Potomac River on Thursday, with investigators hopeful it will help to confirm the altitude differences.
Radar data is rounded to the nearest 100 feet, which means the helicopter was flying anywhere between 251 feet and 349 feet of elevation, according to the NTSB (via The Daily Mail).
The passenger plane, meanwhile, was at 325 feet at the time of the crash and had been cleared to land - with data records also showing the pilots had attempted to pull the plane up seconds before the collision occurred.
"This is a complex investigation," said Brice Banning, NTSB investigator in charge. "There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data."
Federal investigators are trying to piece together the events that led to the collision. Full investigations typically take a year or more, but investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.