DC plane crash data show conflicting altitude readings from American Airlines jet and military helicopter Readings have been compared from the black box recovered from American Eagle flight 5342 and the air traffic control tower about the Black Hawk helicopter.
Preliminary flight data from the deadly mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC has shown a significant discrepancy in altitude readings between the aircraft upon collision.
Data from the flight recorder inside American Eagle flight 5342 suggested it was cruising at about 325ft, with a 25ft margin of error on either side, when the aircraft collided over the Potomac River, adjacent to Reagan National Airport at 8:53 p.m. last Wednesday, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Two black boxes from the American Airlines plane were also recovered with a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder being taken for lab analysis, the NTSB said Friday.
Officials hope that flight data from the Black Hawk’s black box may reconcile the altitude differences.
