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It just seems surreal that an Army Blackhawk helicopter would get in way of landing path of an American Eagle plane at Reagan National Airport.
It just seems surreal that an Army Blackhawk helicopter would get in way of landing path of an American Eagle plane at Reagan National Airport.
I avoid night flights; I'm afraid now.
Last night, shortly before 9pm ET, an American Airlines flight carrying 64 people was on its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with an Army helicopter with three soldiers on board, about 400 feet off the ground, killing everyone on both aircraft.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk had departed from Fort Belvoir in Virginia with a flight path that cut directly across the flight path of Reagan National Airport
This final approach is probably the most carefully controlled in the world, as it it lies three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
According to various media reports, military aircraft frequently train in the congested airspace around D.C. for “familiarization and continuity of government planning.”
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter, whose callsign was registered as PAT25, if he could see the arriving plane.
'PAT25 do you see a CRJ? PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ,' the air traffic controller said. A few seconds later, a fireball erupted in the night sky above Washington DC as the two aircraft collided. ...
On the face of it, it strikes me as very imprudent to conduct training flights at night that cross the final approach to Reagan D.C. To me, the word “training” suggests a potential for making errors that an instructor is called upon to correct.
It also strikes me as very strange that Army Blackhawk helicopters operating in this airspace at night are not required to operate with bright external lights, especially when crossing the final approach to Reagan D.C.
Finally, though it’s nothing more than a vague intuition, it seems to me that there is something very strange about this disaster and the timing of it. I wonder if, for some reason, risk management of such training activities was impaired.
2) As a rule, I don't care much what happens on the East Coast. It's a completely foreign world to me. In turn, they don't give a damn about the Western US. For both, it's just something both sides see on TV.
It also strikes me as very strange that Army Blackhawk helicopters operating in this airspace at night are not required to operate with bright external lights
Patrick says
It also strikes me as very strange that Army Blackhawk helicopters operating in this airspace at night are not required to operate with bright external lights
The helo was operating with lights. They are visible on the video of the crash: https://www.foxnews.com/us/video-shows-dc-plane-crash-involving-american-airlines-flight-black-hawk-helicopter
What the hell are helicopters doing flying around airports?
I avoid night flights; I'm afraid now.
"It just seems surreal that an Army Blackhawk helicopter would get in way
of landing path of an American Eagle plane at Reagan National Airport."
Maybe it didn't have a crew, either. Or, maybe a crew that was already killed before takeoff.
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Wonder what happened like the helicopter was in an emergency or the pilots were that disoriented at night. They are pro's flying those helicopters in all types of weather and conditions and not have all the latest navigation technology.
Just heard on ABC News that people have been pulled alive out of the Potomac River. Now I am hearing the air traffic controller told the helicopter to fly behind the American Eagle aircraft that was landing.
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