What are investigators looking for to determine the cause of 2 planes colliding?
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – After surveying the crash scene, National Transportation Safety Board investigators say they are no closer to determining what caused the midair collision of two vintage war planes over Dallas.
You may be wondering what the NTSB investigators will be looking for and who they will be talking to.
Below are never before seen photos from inside the NTSB lab where investigators will take on the challenge of piecing together the mystery behind the deadly air show crash at Dallas Executive Airport.
It's an investigation that starts at the scene, according to former NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt.
"They will want to see where were the deviations? How did this one airplane end up out of the position to allow this collision?" Sumwalt said.
Any deviations, from the flight path, to the program schedule, will be the first thing Sumwalt says investigators document.
He says the team of 12 that arrived in Dallas over the weekend will prioritize what he calls perishable evidence.
That includes the wreckage, any recorded communications, videos, and witness memories.
On Monday, investigators told CBS 11 they recovered an electronic display from one plane and a GPS unit from another.
They also asked spectators to submit any videos that may not be public yet.
"It will help us determine the location of the crash, where aircraft in the process," said Michael Graham with the NTSB. "It should help us with speed altitude, there may be angle we are unaware of."
The crash killed six veteran pilots.
The former NTSB chairman says the second part of the investigation will involve one or two officials studying background records of those pilots, the planes and the Commemorative Air Force which organized the show.
"They'll send a team to the Commemorative Air Force to look at the records the training records of the pilots, the maintenance records of the aircraft, they will request from the FAA the pilots background, all of their certificates they have received over the years," Sumawlt said. "But those things like training records are not perishable."
The team's preliminary findings will come in four to six weeks according to Sumwalt, who says a final report will take a year to 18 months.