WASHINGTON—Three days of “fact-finding” hearings into a catastrophic crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial jet concluded on Aug. 1, with new information shedding light on the events leading up to the collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington earlier this year.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), an independent agency tasked with investigating transportation accidents, has led the probe into the disaster, releasing preliminary reports in the months since the crash.
The agency’s final report, which will reveal the probable cause of the accident, is expected next year.
The three-day “fact-finding” hearings hosted by the NTSB revealed critical details about the incident, including inconsistent altitude readings on the helicopter, persistent staffing issues at Reagan National Airport’s air traffic control tower, and criticisms over the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) response to the disaster….