Ted Cruz says there was ‘no compelling national security reason’ for the advanced surveillance technology to be switched off

Senator Ted Cruz, the chairman of the committee with oversight of transportation, said there was no compelling reason for the technology not to have been in use when the helicopter collided with a commercial jet over the Potomac River.

The U.S. Army helicopter that collided with an passenger jet near Washington, D.C., had an advanced surveillance system turned off.

Flight data posted online appears to show another Army helicopter flying higher than the maximum altitude allowed around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., before last week’s fatal collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger plane.