After the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration briefed Senators on Thursday, it appears that a key safety system in the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger plane near Washingtons Ronald Reagan Airport was turned off, ultimately killing 67 people.
Senator Ted Cruz held the bipartisan member-level briefing, with Cruz holding the the position of Senate Commerce Committee chair.
Cruz told reporters that the U.S. Army helicopter had its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) turned off.
“This was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off,” Cruz said after the briefing.
The collision last week led to both aircrafts crashing into the Potomac River.
According to the NTSB, the helicopter was flying too high.
The flight traffic data that NTSB had obtained confirms that the helicopter was flying at 300 feet according to the air traffic control display, which is 100 feet more than it should be flying in the nation’s capital.
ADS-B is advanced technology that helps track aircraft location, which according to Cruz is more accurate than what appears on a radar.
As of tight now, Ronald Reagan National Airport is seeing 26 flights fly out per hour, rather than the 28 flights it previusly saw.
The FAA is also reviewing other airports that receive large volumes of air traffic.
According to a new FAA Advisory, helicopters are not allowed to be in the same area as civilian planes around Ronald Reagan National Airport until late February.