Uncovered details on deadly Potomac air crash - Black box data tells all

Tragically, 67 lives were lost in the crash, marking it as the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 2001. Recovery efforts were carried out over the following week, with authorities confirming on February 4 that all the victims' bodies had been recovered.

Now, weeks after the devastating event, new insights from the helicopter’s black box are shedding light on the sequence of events leading up to the crash. The data reveals a moment of confusion in the cockpit just before the fatal collision. One of the Black Hawk pilots is heard stating the helicopter’s altitude as 300 feet, while the other claims it was at 400 feet. This discrepancy in altitude readings has raised questions about the reliability of the data the pilots were receiving.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy suggested that the pilots may have been working with faulty or inconsistent data from the aircraft's altimeters. In an interview with NBC News, Homendy explained, “We do believe that there’s inconsistency with data from the altimeters in the cockpit. So it’s possible that what they were seeing is not matching up with what’s recorded on the flight data recorder.” She further noted that the NTSB was still investigating the cause of the discrepancy.

Adding to the confusion, the recording also revealed that the pilots may not have fully heard or understood instructions to pass behind the civilian plane. The transmission, which contains the phrase “pass behind the,” was unclear, likely due to interference as the crew was attempting to send their own communication at the same time.

Homendy emphasized that the investigation is still in its early stages. “We’re only a couple weeks out from the crash. We have a lot of work to do,” she said. The NTSB has stated that it will take more than a year to complete a comprehensive report detailing the various factors that contributed to the tragic accident. While answers are still forthcoming, the black box data offers a crucial glimpse into the events that led to the horrific collision over the Potomac River.