Route Used by Army Black Hawk During Deadly Collision Was Far Too Risky, Safety Officials Say

Federal crash investigators have said a helicopter route used by an Army Black Hawk for training when it crashed midair with a passenger aircraft over Washington, D.C., in late January, killing all aboard, poses a major aviation risk and called for immediate changes.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Tuesday afternoon that the path the three-person Army Black Hawk crew was on, called Route 4, offered only 75 feet of separation from an airplane approaching runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, known as DCA -- the same approach that American Eagle Flight 5342 was on prior to the deadly crash that killed the soldiers and all aboard the airplane.