WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Army helicopter that collided with a passenger jet last week in Washington had its tracking technology turned off at the time of the crash, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz told the New York Times.
The technology allows air traffic controllers to better track the movement of an aircraft.
Republican Senator Cruz is a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which received a closed-door briefing on the crash with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Cruz expressed concern that tracking technology for the Black Hawk was turned off during the training mission, the New York Times reported on Thursday night.
When in use, the technology, called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, broadcasts an aircraft’s position, altitude and speed, said the New York Times.
It allows air traffic controllers to not rely solely on radar tracking, which can have a delay of a few seconds and hence gives an extra safety layer, according to the newspaper.
The deadly collision over the Potomac River in Washington between the helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet killed 67 people last week. It was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry)
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