“Was Dimming Runway Lights to Blame? Captain Sully Reveals Alarming Theory Behind DC Plane Crash!”
Captain Sully suggested that at least two factors may have made it more difficult for the American Airlines flight to see the helicopter before the D.C. crash
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Specifically, he pointed to nighttime and the presence of water.
“Nighttime always makes things different about seeing other aircraft — basically all you can do is see the lights on them,” Captain Sullenberger said on Thursday (January 30).
“You have to try to figure out: Are they above you or below you? Or how far away? Or which direction are they headed?”
“Everything is harder at night,” he summarized.
Image credits: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
The pilot remains cautious about drawing conclusions and assigning blame, as the cause of the crash—the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States since 2001—is still under investigation.
“There would have been fewer ground lights visible over the water than over land at night,” he continued.” It might have made it a little bit harder to see. But that’s a supposition. We don’t know.”
Captain Sullenberger also mentioned the “old” technology in the Reagan National Airport, which is 5 miles (8 km) from Washington D.C. and is considered one of the country’s most challenging airports to navigate.
The airport, which opened in 1941, requires additional training for pilots who operate from it, fields heavy traffic, and has short runways, he said.
The commercial plane collided with the chopper on descent into Reagan National Airport, submerging both aircraft into the Potomac River
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“It hasn’t changed much since then. Of course, we’ve added technology to it. But a lot of the technology is old.”
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