Overview

• Recent NTSB hearings tested three Sikorsky Black Hawks and identified 80- to 130-foot discrepancies between radar and cockpit altimeters.
• The January collision near Reagan National Airport claimed 67 lives when the military helicopter and an American Airlines jet crashed into the Potomac River.
• Data indicates the Black Hawk was at 278 feet at impact, though pilots reported altitudes of 300 and 400 feet on their gauges.
• FAA rules impose a 200-foot ceiling for helicopter operations in the area, a limit the Black Hawk may have unknowingly exceeded due to faulty instruments.
• The NTSB’s findings are also spurring a review of air traffic control protocols and controller duty regulations.