The National Transportation Safety Board just gave an update on last night’s midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines commuter flight. More than 60 individuals are presumed dead, and recovery efforts continue in the Potomac River.
Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of new information—with one exception: board member J. Todd Inman stated that “no chutes or slides were deployed” subsequent to the crash, indicating that there was no time to deploy emergency evacuation procedures.
A reporter from NBC, Tom Costello, asked NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, “Does it hurt your investigation process to have the president already suggesting possible causes here as you try to keep in mind and begin this investigation?”
Homendy wasn’t having it. “Tom, with all due respect, I think the press also likes to state what probable cause is before we get to the probable cause. So what I’m going to say is you need to give us time.”
Hellbound and Down 