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Black Hawk helicopter's altitude at issue; families of crash victims 'want answers'

The Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet near Washington, D.C., last week may have been flying higher than the maximum altitude for its training mission, authorities say.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have determined the CRJ700 airplane was at 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, at the time of impact. The information was based on data recovered from the jet's flight data recorder that tracks the aircraft's movements, speed and other technical information.

Just before impact, the crew aboard the American flight had a "verbal reaction," according to the plane's cockpit voice recorder, and flight data shows the plane's nose began to rise, NTSB investigator Brice Banning said.

The plane's altitude suggests the Army helicopter was flying above 200 feet − the maximum altitude for the route it was using. Yet the control tower's radar apparently showed the helicopter at 200 feet at the time of the accident, though that information has not been confirmed, Banning said.

"That's what our job is, to figure that out," NTSB board member Todd Inman said.

The helicopter collided Wednesday night with American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, which was minutes from touching down at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. All 64 people aboard the plane and all three aboard the helicopter perished.

'Consolidation' of controllers took place before crash

Air traffic control staffing in Washington the night of the crash "wasn’t normal," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed Sunday.

"What was happening inside the tower? Were they understaffed?" he said on CNN's State of the Union."Was it a right decision to consolidate the positions of the air traffic controllers from two to one? Those are questions that we need answers to."

Duffy said investigators must also determine whether the the pilots were wearing night vision goggles, and if so did they affect pilot vision or perception.

"If they did have night goggles on, why are they flying at 9 o'clock when DCA is so busy?" Duffy said. "They should be flying at 1 o'clock in the morning."

Duffy added that pending the NTSB investigation helicopters won't be flying in the airport's airspace "in the near future."

Families of victims gather near the crash site

Family members of those who died were bused Sunday with a police escort to a site near where the plane and helicopter fell into the Potomac River after colliding. Photos from the scene show a long line of police motorcycles and people peering out over the river. An impromptu memorial with flowers, stuffed animals and photos of some of those who died also has emerged near the airport.

 Inman, speaking before the families were taken to the river, said some families are mad or angry and some just want to cry.

"They are all hurt," he said. "They still want answers, and we want to give them answers."

Helicopter was training to evacuate US leaders in event of attack

The Black Hawk helicopter was on a training flight for a military mission to evacuate senior officials should the U.S. come under attack, authorities say. The military mission, known as "continuity of government" and "continuity of operations" is meant to preserve the ability of the U.S. government to operate.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had described the flight as "a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission" but provided no details on the mission. The Black Hawk crew had night vision goggles on board for the training mission along the Potomac River on a path known as Route 4.

"Some of their mission is to support the Department of Defense if something really bad happens in this area, and we need to move our senior leaders," said Jonathan Koziol, the chief of staff of the Army's Aviation Directorate.

NTSB staff reportedly not eligible for federal buyouts

All 400 NTSB staffers received the email titled “Fork in the Road” that effectively offered a buyout from the federal government, CNN reported citing multiple sources. Federal employees on Tuesday received the offer from the Trump administration to resign and be paid through September. The crash over the Potomac occurred the next day.

An internal NTSB memo informed employees Friday that they would not be eligible for the program, CNN reported.

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