Restrictions on helicopter flights near Reagan Washington National Airport were imposed by U.S. authorities in the wake of a midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter that was devastating. It had become the deadliest air disaster in the US in the past two decades, killing 67 people, after the tragic incident earlier this week.
The helicopter’s black box, which records flight and cockpit data, had been successfully recovered Friday by investigators. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) official Todd Inman said the information gleaned from this device could contribute to shedding light on how the plane fell in the crash.
The cause of the collision remained uncertain and the NTSB pushed hard against speculation before researchers have had a chance to do their work. The board, which is famous for its nonpartisan and independently run approach, stressed that the board is working with all the facts and procedures to avoid such catastrophes in the future.
Officials have also interviewed air traffic controllers, including the only one on duty in Reagan’s tower at the time of the crash. The NTSB is still analyzing all available evidence to set out the sequence of events that contributed to the collision that resulted in the fatal accident.
A medevac plane crashed near a shopping mall in Philadelphia on Friday evening carrying six people, including a child, in a separate aviation incident. An air ambulance company operating the flight has not confirmed any survivors. Now authorities are looking into the additional crash, seeking their understanding of the circumstances of two such tragedies.
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