New details on the plane disaster in Washington: military helicopter had deactivated tracking system

By Laura Almanza

Washington - The collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane in the US capital Washington on January 29 was caused by the helicopter's tracking technology being switched off, according to new findings.

A piece of wreckage is lifted out of the water onto a salvage ship where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter have collided in mid-air.
A piece of wreckage is lifted out of the water onto a salvage ship where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter have collided in mid-air.  © Ben Curtis/AP/dpa

The so-called ADS-B system, which provides data on position, speed and altitude every second, was not active at the time of the crash, said Ted Cruz, Chairman of the US Senate Transportation Committee, to the New York Times on Thursday (local time).

The ADS-B system is an "additional layer of safety to prevent crashes ". Air traffic controllers would not have to rely solely on radar tracking, which has a delay of several seconds. Military helicopters could switch off the system for safety reasons if members of the government were on board. However, this was not the case on the night of the crash. The US military did not initially comment on the investigation.

The Transport Committee had previously been informed of the current status of the investigation into the accident.

An American Airlines passenger plane collided with a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Airport (DCA). Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River.

The 64 people on board the plane and the 3 occupants of the helicopter were killed.