Federal investigators are working to determine if the pilots aboard the doomed American Airlines flight recognized impending danger just moments before the catastrophic crash unfolded.
The incident saw 67 people losing their lives after the plane collided with a helicopter that was believed to be flying too high as per normal security protocols.
The crash reportedly took place at about 9 pm and involved the plane while it was on its way from Kansas. That’s when it collided with the Black Hawk.
As per the latest findings from the National Transportation Safety Board, the flight made a sudden turn upward in the seconds before it collided.
This now raises some serious questions of whether or not the pilots witnessed the helicopter at the last moment. “I can tell that at one point very close to the impact, there was a slight pitch change which was an increase. This meant it tried hard to avoid the fatal attack but just ran out of time”- the report revealed.
Tragically, despite the last-ditch approach or last-second maneuver, the plane could not avoid the tragic disaster.
As per flight data records, the collision arose at 300 to 350 feet above the ground. This was a critical altitude where the helicopter was flying more than 100 feet higher than where it was authorized to be, the aviation expert shared.