John Jefferson
Just one week after a midair collision near Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are planning to brief senators.
The midair collision between a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and a Bombardier CRJ700 airliner was confirmed to have killed 67 people.
Since the crash, the FAA has imposed stricter restrictions on helicopter flights near the airport until late February, apart from police and medical transport, air defense and presidential air transport.
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They also posted a notice restricting civilian airplanes from flying in the area when helicopters are present through March 31.
The plane’s flight data recorder indicated that it was struck at 325 feet by the helicopter on Wednesday night, and that prior to impact, there was a change in the aircraft’s pitch, according to preliminary information released on Saturday.
“Currently, the CRJ (plane) based on the data recorder at the time of impact was 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman said at a Saturday news conference. “And for those who follow this closely, that is a corrected altitude.”
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“I can tell you at one point, very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” he added later, when asked whether the plane pulled up.
While air traffic control data had the plane’s altitude at 200 feet at impact, Inman said they “have not finalized that and need to get more granularity to it,” and that data from the Black Hawk’s recorder is also needed to answer for the apparent 100-foot difference in altitude.
Fox News Digital’s Andrea Margolis and Rick Eggleston contributed to this report.
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