Army probe results in sweeping recommendations after Washington air disaster

Por Sam Ogozalek — POLITICO – TOP Stories

An Army investigation into last year’s Washington air disaster, obtained by POLITICO, contains dozens of internal recommendations, including that its helicopters in busy airspace be equipped with a key location-receiving technology that is at the heart of a contentious aviation safety fight in Congress.

Families of those killed in the disaster had been pressing for the release of the 50-page report, which is dated May 14. The report received sign-off from Undersecretary Mike Obadal in late July.

The facts laid out in the document largely track with what the National Transportation Safety Board previously revealed about the deadly crash between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and PSA Airlines flight near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January 2025.

But the report also includes more than 30 suggestions made by the Army’s investigating officer, Lt. Gen. Michael C. McCurry, in response to the catastrophe, which killed 67 people, including all three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk. The Army didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the report and how many of the recommendations have been completed.

McCurry also endorsed the eight suggestions the NTSB issued to the Army earlier this year as the nation’s transportation accident investigator finished its separate probe.

The document, which has minimal redactions, could feature prominently in the year-end scramble to strike a deal on competing legislative responses to the crash: the Senate-passed ROTOR Act, S. 2503, and the House-OK’d ALERT Act, H.R. 7613. Staff have been negotiating in an attempt to reach a cross-chamber agreement, with time running out before the 119th Congress ends.

Here are three key takeaways from the probe, which The Washington Post first reported.

Airspace technology a focal point

Lawmakers have been consumed by a debate over the extent to which location-receiving Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In, or ADS-B In, devices — which the Federal Aviation Administration doesn’t currently require in busy airspace — should be mandated on planes and helicopters. The military’s practice of often not broadcasting data via related equipment, ADS-B Out, has also been in the spotlight.

ADS-B Out transmits location, altitude and speed data in real time to air traffic controllers, and other aircraft can directly receive those broadcasts as well if they have ADS-B In.

McCurry suggested that Army headquarters require flights in “heavy urban environments” to have a commercial off-the-shelf receiver to get ADS-B In data to devices used by crews.

He also recommended that the Army Aviation Brigade — which is responsible for flights in Washington — equip all aircraft with a transponder with both ADS-B In and ADS-B Out capabilities “suitable” for operating in Washington.

Additionally, McCurry urged the brigade to to immediately turn on ADS-B Out after leaving classified sites, saying use would be mandatory in Washington “except when supporting an actual national security contingency.” He noted that the investigation showed that an existing ADS-B Out “waiver” was “overapplied.”

The Pentagon, in a last-minute reversal before a House vote on the ROTOR Act earlier this year, dropped its support for the Senate bill, which seeks to limit when military helicopters can disable ADS-B Out.

“Multiple interviewees were concerned about operational risk, and this created an environment where crews left ADS-B Out off when aviation safety could have been enhanced with the equipment transmitting,” McCurry said, though he added that this issue didn’t directly contribute to the crash.

In a statement, relatives of those killed on the plane homed in on the recommendations about ADS-B In receivers and ADS-B Out transmissions.

“We have waited long enough. We waited for the NTSB. We waited for the Army. Both investigations are complete, and both make clear that collision avoidance technology must be part of the solution. There is nothing left for Congress to wait for,” the statement reads. “We call on House and Senate leadership to reconcile the ROTOR and ALERT Acts, require ADS-B In, sharply limit ADS-B Out exemptions, and send a final bill to the President before this Congress ends.”

The families also continued to call for an Army inspector general inquiry into the disaster.

‘Lacking’ relationship between Army, FAA

McCurry recommended that the Army conduct a study of “heavy traffic” in or near large cities where its helicopters fly, including abroad. He pointed to Germany, Korea and Japan as other locations to look into.

The analysis, he said, should provide a “Heat Map” and examine near-miss data and coordination with the FAA.

He noted, too, that the Army aeronautical services’ relationship with the FAA, especially when it came to recommending changes to Washington-area helicopter routes, was “lacking” — and recommended that this part of the Army “integrate further” with the FAA with a minimum of monthly meetings, working groups and status reports.

Pointing to air traffic control

The Army’s determination of what went wrong largely followed the NTSB’s conclusion.

McCurry said that the key contributing factor in the crash was two broken radio transmissions to the Black Hawk, resulting in the crew missing key information that could have helped them correctly identify and avoid the PSA Airlines flight. The NTSB documented this problem as well.

He also cited the soldiers’ use of night vision goggles and the surrounding city lights as challenges to locating the aircraft, too, and said the airport’s air traffic control used “non-standard terminology” and provided “incomplete” advisories. The FAA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Additionally, McCurry echoed the NTSB in blasting the FAA’s helicopter route for being extremely close to the arrival path for a Reagan National runway. He noted how the crew would have seen a lower altitude than what they were actually flying at — which was above the route’s altitude cap — because of an error in the Black Hawk’s barometric altimeter system.

McCurry said the Army has sent out a safety message about this issue.

Oriana Pawlyk contributed to this report.

Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories