Washington crash: Clues and questions from air traffic audio, another near-miss and ‘not normal’ staffing
New audio reveals the helicopter pilot said he was able to see the American Airlines passenger plane, and twice requested permission to manoeuvre around it by sight and without further ground support.
The audio shows how the helicopter, using the code Priority Air Transport 25 (PAT-25), specifically asked for visual separation from the CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) passenger plane.
That means the helicopter’s pilot requested permission to proceed, taking responsibility to look out for the plane and avoid it.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
New audio reveals how the helicopter acknowledged the presence of the passenger jet before the crash
The request was in response to a question by air traffic control (ATC) asking whether they could see the passenger jet.
• ATC: “PAT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight? PAT-25, pass behind the CRJ.”
• PAT-25: “PAT25 has the traffic in sight [unintelligible], request visual separation.”
• ATC: “Confirmed.”
The helicopter made this same request again a short while later, after air traffic control again alerted them to the presence of the CRJ passenger jet.
• ATC: “PAT-25, there’s traffic just south of the Wilson Bridge, CRJ is at 1,200ft setting up for Runway 33.”
• PAT-25: “Requesting visual separation.”
• ATC: “Visual separation approved.”
It is not clear if the helicopter was responding to the wrong aircraft.
Another jet nearly hit a helicopter just 24 hours earlier
The mixing of helicopters and passenger jets around the airport had also led to confusion just 24 hours earlier.
On the evening of 28 January, a different American Airlines jet, flight 4514, had to take evasive action to avoid a helicopter near the airport.
The plane landed safely on its second attempt.
The suspected helicopter was next spotted 40 seconds later at an altitude of 1,600ft, having veered off in the opposite direction to the plane.
Staffing was ‘not normal’
As part of its investigation into Wednesday’s crash, the US National Transportation Safety Board is looking into various areas, including staffing at the airport’s air traffic control tower.
Sky’s US partner network NBC revealed that an air traffic controller left work early on the day of the crash. That allegedly left just one person to monitor both airplane and helicopter traffic.
Air traffic controllers are only allowed to operate alone after 9.30pm. The accident took place at 8.47pm.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) preliminary report into the crash said staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport was “not normal” in advance of the accident.
Across the US, FAA data does show a decline in the number of air traffic controllers over the years.
The context, however, is an even larger decline in air traffic – meaning there arguably isn’t a need for as many air traffic controllers as in the past.
It also remains unclear whether air traffic control staffing levels affect passenger safety. Fatal air accidents are, thankfully, rare – but that means it’s hard to spot patterns in the data.
A more common occurrence is runway incursions – where a plane, in the grounds of the airport, goes where it isn’t supposed to be.
The vast majority of runway incursions have no safety consequences at all, but it’s a useful proxy to measure the number of mistakes on the ground.
The chart below shows the number of runway incursions per million flights has actually been falling, and last year was the lowest it’s been since the pandemic.
A board member of the National Transportation Safety Board said that staffing is likely to be only one small part of the investigation.
Investigators may also be examining the altitude of the helicopter involved in the crash.
Maps published by the FAA show that helicopters are required to stay below 200ft in the area around the airport, but flight tracking data suggests the helicopter may have been flying at 300ft in the moments before the crash.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
New footage shows moment of Washington plane crash
“With military traffic, quite a lot of the time they can negotiate these restrictions,” says Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in aviation operations at Buckinghamshire New University and an experienced pilot.
“If air traffic controllers know what’s going on with traffic in the vicinity, they can allow them to go beyond the minimum or maximum altitude.”
Investigators will need to determine if the data is accurate, and whether the helicopter had received prior authorisation to breach the altitude limit.
The videos of the collision are strikingly, shockingly clear.
The reasons are, so far, not.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
World
Trump ‘very disappointed’ in Russian strikes on Ukraine and calls for Putin to ‘sit down and sign a deal’
Donald Trump has said he’s “very disappointed” with Russia as he continues to push for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Saturday, the US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican for their first face-to-face meeting since their explosive White House summit.
The Ukrainian president said the meeting ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral could end up being “historic.” Hours later, Mr Trump questioned Vladimir Putin’s appetite for peace in a Truth Social post.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
From Saturday: Trump meets Zelenskyy at funeral
Speaking before boarding Air Force One on Sunday, Mr Trump again said the meeting went well, and that the Ukrainian leader was “calmer”.
“I think he understands the picture, I think he wants to make a deal,” he said, before turning to Mr Putin and Russia.
“I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal,” the US president said, adding he was “very disappointed that they did the bombing of those places (including Kyiv, where nine people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Friday) after discussions”.
However, Mr Trump said he thinks Mr Zelenskyy is ready to give up Crimea, which the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly said he would refuse to do.
He added that “we’ll see what happens in the next few days” and said “don’t talk to me about Crimea, talk to Obama and Biden about Crimea”.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, while Barack Obama was president.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Sky’s US partner network NBC News that a peace deal to end the war was “closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there”.
“If this was an easy war to end, it would have been ended by someone else a long time ago,” he added on the Meet the Press show.
Read more:
Child among 11 dead after Vancouver car attack
Liverpool win Premier League title to equal Man Utd’s record
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
It comes after North Korea confirmed it had deployed troops to fight for Russia, months after Ukraine and Western officials said its forces were in Europe.
State media outlet KCNA reported North Korean soldiers made an “important contribution” to expelling Ukrainian forces from Russian territory, likely to be the Kursk region.
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈
KCNA said leader Kim Jong Un made the decision to deploy troops to Russia and notified Moscow, and quoted him as saying: “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.”
It also quoted the country’s ruling Workers’ Party as saying the end of the battle to liberate Kursk showed the “highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship” between North Korea and Russia.
Last June, Mr Kim and Mr Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty after a state visit – his first to the country in 24 years.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
From June 2024: Putin drives Kim around in luxury limo during state visit
The North Korean leader promised at the time “full support and solidarity to the Russian government, army and people in carrying out the special military operation in Ukraine”.
World
40 killed in blast at Iran’s biggest port as Tehran denies explosion ‘linked to fuel for missiles’
At least 40 people have been killed and several hundred more injured after an explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, according to state media.
The blast, at the Shahid Rajaei container hub near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, happened on Saturday as Iran held a third round of talks with the US in Oman about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Shipping containers burned, goods inside were badly damaged and the explosion was so powerful that windows several miles away were shattered, reports said.
Iranian Red Crescent rescuers work at the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The blast at the Shahid Rajaei port happened as Iran and the US met for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the blaze and by Sunday afternoon it was 90% extinguished, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society told state media.
Officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaei.
Out of the 752 people who had received treatment for their injuries, 190 were still being treated in medical centres on Sunday, according to Iran’s crisis management organisation.
Chemicals at the port were suspected to have worsened the blast, but the exact cause of the explosion was not clear.
Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the explosion may be connected to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles.
The reports were “aligned with enemy psyops [psychological operations]”, according to a ministry spokesperson, who told state TV the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.
Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Read more:
Nine die after vehicle hits crowd at Vancouver street festival
Pictures of Pope Francis’s tomb released as it opens to public
According to the Associated Press, British security company Ambrey said that the port in March received sodium perchlorate, which is used to propel ballistic missiles and the mishandling of which could have led to the explosion.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The Financial Times previously reported two Iranian vessels had shipped from China enough of the ingredient to propel up to 260 mid-range missiles.
It was reportedly to help Tehran replenish stocks after its missile attacks on Israel in 2024.
Iran’s military has sought to deny the delivery of sodium perchlorate from China.
Iran’s state-run Irna news agency reported on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin deployed several emergency aircraft to Bandar Abbas to provide help.
Anna and Irene have already been queuing for an hour or so, and they know they have a long wait still to come.
“Two hours, three hours, ten hours – what does it matter?” says Irena. “This is about eternity.”
They have come to Rome from Slovenia, Catholics who felt “Papa Francis would have wanted us to be here”.
People take photos of the grave of late Pope Francis inside St. Mary Major Basilica. Pic: AP/Andrew Medichini
A single white rose left on the tomb. Pic: Vatican
And under the sun outside Santa Maria Maggiore, they are awaiting the opportunity to visit his tomb.
Francis, says Irena, “was like a rainbow” who lit up the world. Anna nods along: “We are so happy to be here.”
The Pope’s tomb has become a new source of pilgrimage.
More than 30,000 people came to view it during the first morning after the Pope’s funeral, the queue snaking from the front of the mighty basilica and then up and down across the square at the back.
Some were curious visitors, others were devout followers – priests and nuns mixing in the queue with tourists and devoted locals.
All of these admired Francis; a very few actually knew him.
Father Alessandro Masseroni is a deacon who came to Rome to train to become a priest. On his phone, he shows me a photo of him and Francis, with the Pope offering words of encouragement.
Father Alessandro Masseroni meeting the Pope
He says: “I had the honour to serve Pope Francis and to talk to him many times and it was a special experience. I understand why he was so loved by all the people – he was simple and direct.
“He was sunny. St Francis was his role model and when I saw the first picture of the Pope’s tomb, the first thing I thought was of the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.
“Pope Francis will leave a legacy – it doesn’t end with his death but will continue.”
People attend the funeral of Pope Francis. Pic: Reuters/Yara Nardi
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Video shows Pope’s tomb
What are your emotions now, as you wait to visit his tomb, I ask. Father Alessandro pauses and smiles.
“Many emotions of course, but mainly, I think… thankfulness.”
That has been a recurring aspect among so many of the people we have met in Rome over the past week – the sense that sadness for Francis’s death is outweighed by the sense that his was a life that should be celebrated.
Volodymyr Borysyak flew in from London on the morning of the Pope’s funeral to make his third pilgrimage to Rome.
Barely had he arrived than his phone was stolen, a crime he responded to by praying for the thief.
Read more:
Vatican shares details of Pope’s private burial
How the new pope will be chosen
Volodymyr is a refugee from western Ukraine who worries that his home country’s plight is being forgotten by some of the world.
Now, the Pope who inspired him has died.
You might imagine that he would be resentful and angry. Instead, he is full of smiles.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The farewell to Pope Francis
“We are happy to be the pilgrims of the world and this is a special day,” he tells me. “I know the pope used to pray in this basilica so that is why we will stay so long here to visit Santa Maria Maggiore.
“I think Pope Francis was, is and will be the pope for the world, because of the mercy of his heart and his love for everybody.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway