The pilot who was flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with Flight AA5342 near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night has been identified, somewhat
onathan Koziol, an Army chief warrant officer with over 30 years of experience in flying military helicopters assisting the efforts by the United Command Post at the airport, confirmed to reporters on a conference call that the female pilot commanding the craft in question had over 500 hours of flying experience, per ABC News.
He also noted that the male instructor pilot had over 1,000 hours while the crew chief had hundreds of hours as well.
“It was a very experienced group,” he said.
Pilot Manning Helicopter That Collided With Flight AA5342 Had Enough Hours Under Her Belt
The flight along the Potomac River is understood to be a routine nighttime qualification session in which pilots are tested at flying various routes through the Washington area.
Koziol also explained that the number of flying hours the pilots had prove their experience as most helicopter flights are very short.
“Both pilots had flown this specific route before at night — this wasn’t something new to either one of them,” he added. “These are our top pilots doing this National Capital Region.”
An investigation into the circumstances that caused the collision of the Black Hawk chopper and Flight AA5342 is underway.
