Black Hawk Crew in Deadly Crash Had Wrong Altitude Data, Safety Board Reveals

New data, including cockpit voice recordings and helicopter altimeter readings, were presented at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing.

Salvage crews pull up a part of an Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Feb. 6, 2025. Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

WASHINGTON—The crew of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a commercial jet earlier this year in the nation’s deadliest aviation accident in more than two decades was operating with incorrect altitude data, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed on July 30.

The information was released during the first day of a three-day “fact-finding” hearing by the NTSB, which is probing the Jan. 29 crash.