Newly published videos of Wednesday’s disastrous air collision over the nation’s capital are stunning in their clarity, but they also make the cause of the tragedy more mysterious.
The two videos obtained by CNN and aired Friday morning show the Army Black Hawk helicopter flying directly into American Airlines Flight 5342 before both aircraft plunge into the Potomac River, killing 67 passengers, crew, and soldiers.
And a disturbing new report indicates the helicopter was well outside its approved flight path.
The CNN videos “[offer] a more direct angle and vantage point” than previous footage, CNN “News Central” co-anchor Kate Bolduan reported.
The report is below:
Meanwhile, in an article published at midnight, The New York Times reported that the helicopter was well outside its approved area when the collision occurred.
The Black Hawk’s pilot had “asked for permission to use a specific, predetermined route that lets helicopters fly at a low altitude along the bank on the east side of the Potomac, a location that would have let it avoid the American Airlines plane,” the Times reported.
The specific route — known as Route 4 — was understood, according to the Times. The helicopter had confirmed sighting the jet, “and the air traffic controller instructed the helicopter to follow the route and fly behind the plane.”
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Instead, according to the Times, the helicopter was much higher than it should have been — above 300 feet when it was supposed to be below 200 feet — and at least a half-mile from its approved route.
The Times, being the Times, spent the first half of the article raising questions about the effectiveness of air traffic controllers and the possibility Reagan National Airport’s controllers were understaffed and overworked at the time of the crash.
(Apparently, one air traffic controller on duty was allowed to leave early by a supervisor, leaving the airport’s plane and helicopter traffic to only one controller a half hour earlier than usual, according to the Times.)
But the questions that are raised by videos like those shown by CNN and details like those reported by the Times aren’t going to be answered by increasing staffing levels in control towers.
On Friday morning, President Donald Trump, who has been dealing with the typically critical mainstream media in the aftermath of the crash, published a post to the Truth Social social media platform to note the information.
“The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot limit,” he wrote. “That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”
The fact itself isn’t hard to understand.
The big question is, why?
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