BREAKING: Military helicopter collides with regional jet near Reagan airport

[jeff of pa]

 

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[jeff of pa]

 

[jeff of pa]

Responders believe there are no survivors in the plane and helicopter crash, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly Sr. said at a Thursday news briefing here. Twenty-seven bodies were recovered and one from the helicopter, he said, adding: “We are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”

American Eagle flight was carrying U.S. figure skaters home from a training camp before crash

Camp serves as a launchpad for athletes vying for their spot on Team USA in upcoming world championships, consisting of top figure skaters. Russian world champions among passengers, reports said.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Red-Coat]

Tragic.

TCAS (for collision avoidance) was switched off on both aircraft, which is standard practice below 500 feet. The reason for that is part of the avoidance process may be an instruction to descend, and that’s a dangerous strategy at low altitude.

Equally, ‘visual separation’ of air traffic is an unwise process at night, even in good weather with no other visibility restrictions. Especially in areas with busy lighting on the ground. The onus is on the pilots (of both aircraft) to maintain separation by “see and avoid”, sometimes with guidance from ATC which is only ‘advisory’ in the US.

In a number of jurisdictions outside the US, and for some non-US airlines wherever they’re operating, it’s not a permitted procedure at night. The AA-5342 Bombardier CRJ-700 which crashed, in common with many airliners, does not have a cockpit windshield arrangement that’s conducive to maintaining visual separation.

AA-5342 had been on approach to Runway 1, but was asked if it could switch to Runway 33, to which the pilot agreed. About 1.5 miles ahead of AA-5342 was another aircraft of exactly the same type on approach to Runway 1 and behind it was an Airbus A319 on the same approach.

The instruction by ATC for the Black Hawk to “pass behind” AA-5342 was potentially problematic in the circumstances, given that the helicopter crew were probably expecting to see a single Bombardier heading for Runway 1. They may not have been aware that it was now heading for Runway 33, or that there was a second Bombardier ahead of it still using the approach to Runway 1. In that case, they may well have flown behind the first Bombardier to avoid a collision, but straight into the path of the second one.

Military flights in the US (including a Black Hawk on a training mission) must coordinate with ATC and can only legally cross a major approach pass to an airport if explicitly cleared by ATC, or conducting an authorized emergency/security operation, with ATC aware.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

Absolutely tragic. I saw someone say the Navy isn’t allowed to do see and avoid after dark in that area but apparently the Army can.

 

[Red-Coat]

Absolutely tragic. I saw someone say the Navy isn’t allowed to do see and avoid after dark in that area but apparently the Army can.

I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but it takes two to tango. It’s certainly a permitted procedure for commercial airlines at airports throughout the US unless the airline itself disallows it. I know that Lutfhansa and Iberia don’t allow it, for example.

Reagan National is regarded by most pilots as a difficult area for navigation because of airspace restrictions on both sides of the Potomac to protect Washington and the Pentagon, plus general congestion from the sheer number of civilian and military flights operating in the area.

According to the New York Times, a single controller was handling ATC for all helicopters in and around the area as well for landing and departing commercial flights, which was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” adding “Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one."

At Reagan, in the three years leading up to this collision, at least two other pilots formally reported near misses with helicopters requiring them to take evasive action while landing, as well as two military helicopters inadvertently flying too close to one another. In both of the commercial incidents, the pilots reported that they were not informed by ATC of the helicopters, and had no visual contact prior to coming within 300 feet of a collision. The onboard TCAS did its job in alerting them since they were at an altitude where it could be usefully operated.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

Reagan National is regarded by most pilots as a difficult area for navigation because of airspace restrictions on both sides of the Potomac to protect Washington and the Pentagon, plus general congestion from the sheer number of civilian and military flights operating in the area.

My father referred to it as “the swarm”. I was too young to understand it when we lived there but when this happened his words made sense. My heart goes out to the families.

 

[RobNC]

It's sad all these people died in this manner. I really feel for their families.