The endowment of air traffic control was “not normal” at the time of an outdoor collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane in Washington, DC who killed 67 people, recognized Sean Duffy.
The American media indicated that the Tour of the National Airport Reagan had subscribed to the staff in the accident on Wednesday, according to a government report.
An air traffic control worker managed helicopters and some airport planes, a work normally done by two people, two sources said in CBS News, the BBC news partner.
“I’m going to take the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to their word that it was not normal,” said Duffy when he asked him about reports during the Fox News Sunday program.
Duffy said “it was part of the examination process we have to do.”
He explained that there was a “consolidation of air traffic controllers an hour before it occurred during the time of this accident. What if was the relevance of this?”
Duffy raised questions about the question of whether the controllers made “a properly direct traffic, in accordance with the FAA procedures”, as well as the elevation of the helicopter.
The member of the Board of Directors of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Todd Inman, said that the preliminary data revealed that the helicopter was flying at around 200 feet (60 m), CBS reported. The flight ceiling for helicopters in the region near Reagan National Airport is 200 feet.
Duffy also questioned the moment of his flight.
“Why would they steal a mission at nine o’clock in the evening through a very busy airspace … Instead of piloting this mission at one o’clock in the morning, when there is very little traffic”? He asked.
“I want our soldiers to be trained and ready to leave, but I also want air travelers to be also safe, and there is a time and a place to do it, not at nine o’clock in the evening when there is any Intense circulation. “”
Investigators are considering a number of factors, especially in height, to determine the cause of the accident, but have not yet drawn public conclusions, NTSB officials announced on Thursday.
There were 64 passengers aboard the American Airlines flight when he collided in the air with a Black Hawk Army Black helicopter carrying three soldiers. There were no survivors.
Dozens of members of the family of victims gathered at the scene of the accident on Sunday morning.
They arrived on built buses with a police escort, first going to the scene of the accident, then on a track where the flight was supposed to land.
Duffy said the United States has a chronic sub-system problem in air traffic control.
Us Media reported that more than 90% of the country’s air traffic control facilities operate below the personnel levels recommended by the FAA.
“We have not had enough air controllers in America for a very long time,” said Duffy, adding “they are stressed. They are exploited. They are overwhelmed. It is not an excuse. It’s just a reality of this we have in the system. ”
The new transport secretary said that he was working with the FAA to train new air traffic controllers and “has a plan that would go out to solve the problem, but the problem is that you cannot return a switch and get Air controllers here tomorrow.