– The U.S. Army helicopter that collided with an American Airlines plane killing 67 people last week had turned off an advanced surveillance system that the federal government has hailed for making airspace safer, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said on Thursday
Cruz, who was among a group of lawmakers briefed on the collision by federal authorities, said the Black Hawk helicopter had switched off its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast sometime prior to the Jan. 29 crash.
“This was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off,” Cruz said after a briefing from the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA. He added that the helicopter had a transponder so it would appear on radar, but said ADS-B is significantly more accurate.
The system, which is the preferred method of surveillance for air traffic control in the U.S., improves visibility by broadcasting an aircraft’s GPS location, altitude and ground speed, according to the FAA. The system includes a display that shows pilots where there are other aircraft in the sky or on a runway.
