Reflection from local pilots as NTSB begins investigation into deadly DC aircraft crash

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Reflection from local pilots as NTSB begins investigation into deadly DC aircraft crash

Reflection from local pilots as NTSB begins investigation into deadly DC aircraft crash

Soon after emergency responders moved from rescue to recovery operations, the National Transporation Safety Board started their investigation into the deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C.

While investigators say they’ll have a preliminary report in about a month — those in the aviation industry don’t expect the final report to be done for a year. 

And whatever comes from the investigation, pilots of all aircrafts will use the findings to help prevent future tragedies. 

“We’ll train from it,” Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Lang, with the Minnesota National Guard, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. “Either the aviation community in the civilian world or the military world can say, this is what happened in the circumstances [and] we want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.”

Lang, also a republican state senator from Olivia, says he’s flown Black Hawk helicopters for twenty years with the National Guard. 

“We have to fly about 100 hours a year,” Lang said about the training he has to keep up with to fly Black Hawks. 

Some of that training included flying at night. 

“It adds a level of complexity,” Lang said about night flights. “We do have great equipment. We have heads-up displays, we have night vision goggles, we have moving maps, all those things, several sets of radios.”

The ‘black boxes’ have been recovered from the American Airlines jet that was involved in the crash. According to authorities, that jet, carrying 64 people, and a U.S. Military Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board, collided in midair Wednesday night just before 9 — no one survived. 

“It’s a sobering thing for all of us. One of our worst fears would be a midair collision,” Randy Corfman, president of the Minnesota Pilots Association, said. 

“We are drilled to keep in mind that we are responsible for everybody on board that aircraft, no matter how big, whether we’re flying by ourselves or with 100 passengers,” Corfman said. 

He adds he and other pilots have been and will continue to reflect on this.

“The impact it has upon us as pilots is to do some introspection to make sure that we don’t get caught with just keeping our head in the cockpit, so to speak, that we look outside the window to spot things,” Corfman said.