Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger offered his expert opinion following the collision between an American Airlines plane and a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington DC
Flying at night and over water could have been factors in what led to an American Airlines plane colliding with a helicopter in Washington DC, an expert claims.
The 64 people aboard the commercial jet and three soldiers in the Army helicopter died following the impact on Wednesday at around 9pm. Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who famously landed a passenger plane on the Hudson River in New York City in 2009, has shared his taken on the tragedy, which happened near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The 64-year-old aviation expert said: “There would have been fewer ground lights visible over the water than over land at night. Nighttime always makes things different about seeing other aircraft — basically all you can do is see the lights on them.”
His comments come as an investigation into the official cause of the crash continues – but this could take months to complete. Donald Trump, however, baselessly blamed diversity initiatives for undermining air safety.
But speaking to the New York Times, Mr Sullenberger believes the pilots may have had difficulty seeing what exactly was around them in the cover of darkness.
The dad of two, who was born in Denison, Texas, said: “You have to try to figure out: Are they above you or below you? Or how far away? Or which direction are they headed? Everything is harder at night… I’m just devastated by this. We have the obligation to learn from every failure and improve.”
At least 30 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage following the devastating midair collision in the US capital, which saw the mangled aircraft plunge into the freezing Potomac River. Victims include gifted figure skaters as young as 11, who were returning from a competition in Kansas.
Mr Sullenberger, who was behind the yoke of US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009 when it encountered double engine failure after colliding with a flock of geese after takeoff from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, likened the incident on Wednesday to a row of dominoes being “lined up the wrong way”.
The retired pilot continued: “It’s hard to have the diligence and the dedication to adhere to best practices on every minute of every hour of every day, every week, every month, every year for a decades long aviation career.
“Any lapse could potentially be fatal, even though we have a lot of safety. If all the dominoes line up in the wrong way, we could have on rare occasions a catastrophic event.”
The helicopter had been on a training exercise when the American Airlines plane had attempted to land at Ronald Reagan Airport, which Mr Sullenberger says has particularly short runways.
The impact saw the mangled aircraft plunge into the freezing Potomac River. A search and rescue operation has now become a recovery mission, authorities told reporters.
It contrasts to Mr Sullenberger’s experience as, after he landed the US Airways plane on the Hudson River, all 155 survived the ordeal. The crash landing has since been dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson” and, in 2016, Tom Hanks portrayed Mr Sullenberger in a film about the incident.
