Experts ask why Black Hawk helicopter may have been flying above allowed altitude before crash
CBSN
The military Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into a passenger plane near Reagan National Airport Wednesday appears to have been flying above the permitted altitude, publicly available flight data analyzed by CBS News shows.
This data point is one of several key mysteries investigators are exploring as they seek to explain what caused the nation's worst air disaster in more than a decade, aviation experts said.
"That's the $64 million question that needs to be answered," said Greg Feith, a former senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, in an interview with CBS News.
An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The Black Hawk helicopter was carrying a crew of three. Officials said early Thursday that everyone on board both aircraft is believed dead, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly a quarter century.