During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last week, Brigadier General Matthew Braman discussed how the Army revised its helicopter operations in the DC airspace following a fatal crash in January.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Brigadier General Matthew Brayman for his testimony.
00:03Thank you, Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Duckworth, Chairman Cruz, and Ranking Member
00:09Cantwell, and distinguished members of the committee.
00:13I appreciate the opportunity to come here before you today to speak about the midair
00:17collision that occurred between an Army Black Hawk helicopter with the call sign PAT25 and
00:22American Airlines flight 5342.
00:26First and foremost, on behalf of Army senior leaders and all of our soldiers, I want to
00:32pass my continued condolences to all those that are affected by this tragedy.
00:38I want to thank the professional work of our first responders and the federal, state, and
00:43local agencies that responded within minutes to the crash site and aided in the recovery.
00:50I want to thank Chairman Homendy and the NTSB for conducting a thorough investigation, facilitating
00:55a close and transparent relationship with the Army as we conduct our parallel investigations.
01:03The NTSB remains lead in the investigation, so I can't offer facts and recommendations
01:08at this time, but I can offer an Army perspective on the preliminary report and provide clarifying
01:13information on Army helicopter operations and certainly can do that here in the Washington,
01:19D.C. area.
01:20For context, PAT25's unit, the 12th Aviation Battalion, falls under the Army Aviation Brigade,
01:26or referred to as the TAB, and that unit has the mission to provide continuous, responsive
01:32aviation support to senior military and government leaders to enable continuity of government
01:37operations and defense support to civil authorities.
01:41The TAB is one of dozens of organizations, both civilian and military, that operates
01:45helicopters in the D.C. area.
01:48Their aircraft continue to meet all requirements to operate in the national airspace, in Class
01:53B airspace, and the helicopter routes in Washington, D.C., and they operate under positive control
01:59of flight services when within 30 nautical miles of DCA.
02:05PAT25 was operating out of Davidson Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir.
02:08The crew of three were fully qualified to fly in the local area.
02:13The pilot in command, CW2 Andrew Eades, was an instructor pilot.
02:18The co-pilot, Captain Rebecca Lobach, was a qualified pilot in command as well, and
02:23the crew chief, Staff Sergeant Ryan O'Hara, was a standardization flight instructor.
02:28The night of 29 January, PAT25 was conducting an annual proficiency and readiness test,
02:34or APART, and as part of that flight was approved to operate at contingency locations associated
02:39with their directed mission.
02:41This has led to questions as to whether PAT25 was transmitting Automatic Dependent Surveillance
02:46broadcast out, or ADSB out.
02:49The specific status of both its operation and functionality is something that is under
02:53the investigation of the NTSB.
02:55The crew, however, was approved to operate with that capability off in accordance with
02:59Army policy.
03:02The aircraft transponder, however, was active with Mode 3 Alpha Charlie and Mode S when
03:07within the Class B airspace and was emitting all the required information to allow air
03:12traffic services and traffic collision avoidance systems to detect and track the aircraft.
03:17Army policy does not permit transponder off operations in the national airspace.
03:22They do not permit transponder off operations.
03:26There is certainly no shortage of speculation on potential causes of the accident.
03:30I understand well the desire for answers.
03:33As the Director of Army Aviation and a senior Army aviator, there is nothing more important
03:37to me than the capability, proficiency, and safety of our air crews and those whom they
03:43transport and support in defense of this nation.
03:47I am also personally invested in the safety of our commercial aviation enterprise as I
03:52live with an airline pilot, and her safety and the safety of her passengers is paramount
03:57to me as well, which is why it is essential that we see this investigation through to
04:03its fruition so we can have well-informed, facts-based conclusions to make desired change
04:09when needed.
04:11But where prudent, the Army is not waiting to take action.
04:15Immediately after the accident, the 12th Aviation Battalion paused all operations.
04:20They've only recently resumed flights and only outside the seven nautical mile radius
04:24of DCA, with the exception of flights directly supporting the Secretary of Defense and the
04:29Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and that remains true today.
04:32The Army continues to fully comply with all FAA restrictions on helicopter traffic over
04:36the Potomac River near DCA.
04:39The Army is actively participating, along with other military services and agencies
04:43with an FAA-led working group, to redesign the Route 4 helicopter corridor as recommended
04:49by the NTSB in its preliminary report.
04:52We've also issued interim guidance to elevate the approval authority to operate ADSB off.
04:59The Army is fully committed to a transparent and collaborative review of the events of
05:0329 January and of all operations in the vicinity of DCA.
05:08We support any and all efforts to ensure a tragedy such as this never occurs again.
05:15Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this committee and I look forward to answering
05:17your questions.