Key Safety System Off in Army Helicopter That Collided With Plane: Senator

The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast was off in the chopper, Sen. Ted Cruz said.

A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from the Potomac River, in the aftermath of the collision of American Airlines flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the river near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 4, 2025. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

A key safety system was off in the U.S. Army helicopter that collided with a plane near Washington in January, a senator said on Feb. 6.

The Black Hawk helicopter had turned off its automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B), an advanced surveillance technology to track aircraft location, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told reporters after a briefing with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).