Black Hawk pilots' use of night vision goggles potentially contributed to the midair collision in DCA.
In the chilling aftermath of a midair collision involving an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Eagle plane over the Potomac River, families of the victims, including Gwen Duggins, gathered for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings. Duggins, an attorney residing in D.C., lost her daughter Kiah Duggins in the tragedy.
The hearings, held on a specified date in January, aimed to prevent future air disasters. Gwen Duggins emphasized the need for complete transparency and accountability in the investigation, expressing dissatisfaction with the information provided during the hearings and calling for action rather than words.
The hearings focused on collision prevention technologies, such as the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) used by the passenger plane and Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast Out (ADS-B Out), relevant to the military helicopter’s location tracking.
Investigations revealed that approximately 20 seconds before the collision, the plane’s TCAS gave an audible warning of “traffic”, but did not provide a resolution advisory, which might have advised the pilots how to avoid the collision. This limited warning was a critical failure in collision prevention.
Furthermore, the Army’s helicopters, including the one involved in the collision, were found to routinely fly with the ADS-B Out system turned off near the capital. This key locating technology being disabled compromised the helicopter’s visibility to air traffic controllers and other aircraft, representing another technology failure contributing to the accident.
Dr. Hashim Raza, a D.C. resident who was returning one day early from helping a hospital in Kansas at the time of the disaster, also attended the hearings. He stated that multiple safety factors likely failed simultaneously in the midair disaster.
Gwen Duggins, like other family members of the victims of Flight 5342, was present at the hearings. She expressed her disbelief that system failures could go unaddressed, jeopardizing the safety of Americans. Gwen Duggins stated that her comfort will come when changes are instituted to ensure the skies are safer for all Americans.
The hearings have shed light on the critical need for improvements in air traffic safety systems, and the NTSB continues to investigate the incident to ensure that such tragedies are prevented in the future. The focus remains on the prevention of collisions, and the NTSB is working diligently to identify and address the underlying causes of this devastating accident.
The hearings highlighted the urgent need for improvements in air traffic safety systems, particularly in the airline and military sectors, echoing concerns over collision prevention technologies such as TCAS and ADS-B Out. Gwen Duggins, who lost her daughter in the midair collision, emphasized the importance of transparency, accountability, and action in the investigation, expressing dissatisfaction with the information provided and the unsolved nature of system failures, which also affected the general news and finance sectors due to potential implications for airline companies and the aviation industry.
