A former Black Hawk helicopter operator has suggested the U.S. military install collision avoidance systems into military aircrafts.
On Wednesday night, a Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight as it made its descent into Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington D.C. around 9 p.m. EST, plunging into the Potomac River with all 67 passengers onboard both aircraft now presumed dead.
Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot, told “Fox & Friends First” on Friday that military aircraft should have systems put into them to avoid any future collisions.
“One thing I am interested in looking at is should we outfit our military aircraft with the collision avoidance system that the civilian airliners have,” Barrett said. “Those systems only work if the two aircraft can talk to one another through their transponders. If one has it and one doesn’t, oftentimes that won’t alert the other pilot that there could be a midair collision.”
“Would it have prevented this accident? That is a question that remains open right now, but these are all things that we need to gather more facts around,” Barrett said.
According to Fox News, new reports have emerged that show the helicopter involved in the crash could have been flying higher than was approved and had moved outside of its flight path when it struck the American Airlines aircraft, which had members of U.S. Figure Skating onboard after they were returning from a camp in Wichita.
President Donald Trump held a White House press briefing Thursday and requested a moment of silence for the victims, calling the tragedy a “dark and excruciating night” and noted the recovery efforts are still ongoing.
“This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital, and in our nation’s history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions,” Trump said. “As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly … we are in mourning.”
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