Helicopter’s tracking system that crashed with plane above Washington was eliminated

The so-called ADS-B system, which shares data about position, speed and height every second, was not active at the time of the crash. ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) is “an extra safety layer to prevent crashes,” said Cruz. Air traffic controllers do not only have to rely on radar racking, which has a delay of a few seconds.

Military helicopters can eliminate the system for security reasons if there are members of the government on board. However, that was not the case the night of the crash. For the time being, the US Army did not comment on the investigation.

The passenger plane, a Bombardier CRJ700 from PSA Airlines, part of American Airlines, collided last Wednesday around 9 p.m. (local time) with a Sikorsky H-60 ​​Black Hawk helicopter of the army during the approach of the landing track on Reagan Washington National Airport.

The passenger plane had 64 people on board, the helicopter three. There were no survivors. It was the deadly aviation accident in the United States in two decades.