Mass casualties. Maybe some survivors? Prayers for all.
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OT- DC commercial plane and Blackhawk collide
- Thread starter HBK4life
- Start date
Sadly, it was extremely unfortunate timing. The fixed wing aircraft had absolutely no chance to see the Helo. Those pilots were focused on the runway, just 400 feet off the ground.
Based off initial reports, it’s possible the Helo was looking at the aircraft that was taking off, not the one that was landing.
Trying to figure out why it is so important for training missions to be conducted next to such a busy air strip. And at night no less.
Just heard that several on board the jet were returning from Wichita and were members of the national development skating team
What a tragedy, something I didn’t need to hear, leaving for Puerto Rico for cruise on Friday..
You'll be fine. Highway to the airport is more dangerous
There is going to be have to be a lot of explaining as to why they need to be flying anywhere close to there. Plus how they could get so far off course and why they are not in communication with air traffic control.
I asked someone about a military copter flying along the Potomac on Tuesday. They weren’t sure why it was there. We landed on that same runway Tuesday afternoon. It was an “interesting” landing. Fast and low over the water. Very rough approach. Watched video of the crash last night right after it happened on DC news.
There are a tremendous number of political figures who fly in and out of Reagan. One guy on that river bank or on a boat could bring down a plane with some very important people on it. They call it a “training” mission but no doubt they’re providing security and “training” for security threats to the Whitehouse and Capitol.
One question is if the chopper was too high or the plane came in too low. It was very windy last night in DC and wind shear might have affected the plane’s path. Watching the video last night I thought the plane was awfully low. People are blaming the chopper but my guess is a 6 year chopper pilot is a better pilot than a guy flying basically an ancient commuter plane for an AA subcontractor.
Fort Belvoir (where the unit is based) is like 10 miles straight line from DCA. Pretty common for them to be there.
He’s just another 50something b!tch that can’t help himself
Extremely tragic event. My brother-in-law and quite a few of my buddies were on the scene last night and some still there now. It is very common for Army and Marine helicopters to be flying around the DC/NOVA/DMV area. I am sure there were multiple points of failure in the entire procedure of operations last night on both sides. This is why we train, train, train.
Very sad tragedy. It sounds like Reagan International has always been a very unique airport as far as commercial & military flights in close proximity to one another.
I’ll believe it was the chopper pilot’s fault when they prove it. I’m going to believe it was the controller’s or plane’s pilot error that caused this. A controller’s job is extremely difficult and stressful. A momentary mistake can cause something like this.
Honestly, with how many mishaps are happening in the airwing across all branches, I wouldn't be surprised if most the fault is on the Blackhawk.
Blades of the chopper went through the bottom of the airplane fuselage causing the explosion. 😕 Hopefully the explosion was powerful enough to render everyone unconscious.
There's no excuse for any of this. Safety changes will be forthcoming.
You also have to remember that many of the guard and reservists units are stationed at airports. When I was a firefighter in the Neb ANG, we did our weekends and 2 weeks at the Lincoln Airport. We would drill procedures on the runways as commercial planes TKO and LND and the ANG aircraft were conducting their sorties as well.
Knock off the political talks or take a break from the site.
Just read a quick story about a guy who was refused entry onto that flight cause his dog was to big, so he drove to his destination instead...think that dog's going to get a big ole t-bone tonite? Hope so.
I've flown into DCA a few times and have always enjoyed it and had a great time as far as airports go.
Terrible unfortunate accident.
Terrible unfortunate accident.
Damn straight, a few of the threads lately have turned into political slant and stupid arguing.
How could be the pilot or controller error. The plane is literally on final approach to the runway. The plane was where it was supposed ti be the helicopter wasn’t.
The plane also switched runways, the ATC asked the plane if they could land on the shorter runway. Not everything is black and white.
Ok , but doesn’t change the fact that the airliner would still have priority in this situation. It’s a terrible accident.
The recorded radio transmissions are making it sound like the Blackhawk pilot was watching the wrong aircraft when staying clear.
I think, no professional insight, it's ultimately going to come down to air traffic controllers. That's their job to control traffic. We'll see it's early
without a doubt a horrible event, just saying that there are individual events that transpired in a short period of time that could have led to the tragedy. It isn't just as simple as ATC or Blackhawk pilot or commercial pilot error.
Again another story, back in the day when I was active duty I flew on the AWACS planes out of Tinker AFB in Oklahoma, we were conducting a routine sortie out of an island in the Caribbean at night. Our entire mission was to control the air space and monitor air traffic. Typically we did not report to other control towers because we were supposed to be able to monitor air traffic in and around our general area. One night, were were flying and the navigator was informed of a commercial plane that was at the same altitude but a heading that would have been at our 7 -8 o'clock. The commercial plane would have had no indication that we were out there because we didn't report to anyone because we were conducting a mission. Needless to say, there was nearly a mid air collision. We adjusted out altitude to narrowly escape but it was close enough that you could feel the plane shake. Scariest event in my military career. But the error was because an operator in the back of the plane wasn't doing their job. The commercial plane and the ATC center immediately went to the press to blame the government. The plane is very unique looking so it was easy to distinguish, and the pilot was publicly blamed. But none of it was his error. Anyway, long story to show not everything is as it appears in the first 6 hours of an unfortunate event.
