An Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high when it crashed into an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, last week, the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed Tuesday.
Data from air traffic control radar showed the military chopper was flying at 300 feet on the air traffic control display at the time of the fiery Jan. 29 crash, according to the NTSB.
The maximum altitude for helicopters in the area — which is also a flight path for jets going into and out of Reagan — is 200 feet.
The radar data are rounded to the nearest 100 feet, the NTSB said — meaning the helicopter could have been at anywhere between 251 feet and 349 feet of elevation.
