Among the numerous contributing factors cited by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the fatal Jan. 29, 2025, midair collision between a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk was the helicopter’s faulty barometric altimeter.
The NTSB said in its final report on the accident, which killed all 67 passengers and crew in both aircraft, that the barometric altimeter indicated the helicopter was 200 feet above ground level — the approved height for that portion of its route, which crossed the CRJ’s approach path to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The NTSB found that, in reality, the helicopter was nearly 100 feet higher.
A barometric altimeter is a type of aneroid barometer, an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure. An aneroid barome…
