Midair Collision Near Reagan National Sends Plane into Potomac River

[newnative]

8 hours ago, lordgrinz said:

 

They are saying the Blackhawk was on a training mission, who the heck was in charge of this failed training mission?! 

And, why were they training near a very busy airport?

[John Drake]

4 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Passengers include the US National Figure Skating Team, the coaches and family members, plus 2 Russian skating champions.  

 

 

 

The second time this has happened. The first was in 1961. 

https://www.usfigureskating.org/news/article/filling-void-memories-lost-friends-still-vivid-ludingtons

[PomPolo]

9 hours ago, lordgrinz said:

Why on earth would a military aircraft be crossing the path of an inbound aircraft in commercial airspace near an airport?!

Couldn't agree more with this.  I think sometimes military aircraft get carte-blanche as to where they want to fly however that close to an airport they should have been on the approach tower frequency and been aware of any close traffic.  A total tragedy at the same time and probably not worth speculating on anything just yet even though it may seem obvious.

Very very sad

[tomazbodner]

17 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

The second time this has happened. The first was in 1961. 

https://www.usfigureskating.org/news/article/filling-void-memories-lost-friends-still-vivid-ludingtons

Another crash in that river was Air Florida in 1982. Alas for different reasons.

[Ben Zioner]

9 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Shocking that it happen just over 3 miles south of the White House and the Capitol.

Yes that sounds like a wasted opportunity. 64 wasted lives, sad.

 

R.I.P

 

 

[rabas]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

And, why were they training near a very busy airport?

 

Because that's where these guys have to fly. This UH-60 Blackhawk's squadron, based near by, is responsible for flying officials and VIPS around Washington including to the airport.  That doesn't make it a wise thing to do, but apparently Washington DC is a challenging air space. Some have suggested a problem waiting to happen. 

[rabas]

Some have suggested the helicopter may have been distracted by an outbound flight but the outbound flight was well in the helicopter's rear and traveling away by that time.  But, there was an equally distant and closing incoming flight, with its headlights pointing right at the helicopter.  The much smaller Canadian plane that collided  was approaching from the heli's upper left. 

 

So yes, maybe the heli was distracted by another plane. Who looks to the upper left when a big bright plane is bearing down from straight ahead. 

 

Here is a beautiful simulation (already) where you can see this perspective for yourself in 3D. What do you think?

 

[rabas]

Here's another video from youtube. 

 

1. Air traffic control radar and communication from well before. [https://youtu.be/CiOybe-NJHk?t=93

 

2. Air traffic control radar and communication from shortly before crash. "PAT25 (patrol-25) do you see that plane?" 

 

 

[Walker88]

In a WH Press conference, long before any actual investigation and cause has been determined by actual experts, the new President has decided the DEI policies of the previous Administration are at fault for the crash.

 

That is cold, and based on nothing. The clown has no clue what ATC officers were on duty, nor their background nor why and how they were appointed. He just has decided to use a tragedy as yet another political attack on anyone who isn't him.

 

He's an absolutely vile excuse for a human being. Imagine how his idiotic comments have hurt family members of the deceased.

[lordgrinz]

2 hours ago, rabas said:

Some have suggested the helicopter may have been distracted by an outbound flight but the outbound flight was well in the helicopter's rear and traveling away by that time.  But, there was an equally distant and closing incoming flight, with its headlights pointing right at the helicopter.  The much smaller Canadian plane that collided  was approaching from the heli's upper left. 

 

So yes, maybe the heli was distracted by another plane. Who looks to the upper left when a big bright plane is bearing down from straight ahead. 

 

Why on Earth would ATC allow the helicopter to enter airspace even remotely close to that runway with an aircraft landing? Wouldn't they tell the helicopter to hold its position until the aircraft landed? I mean a helicopter can hover for a moment, right?

[Tug]

38 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

In a WH Press conference, long before any actual investigation and cause has been determined by actual experts, the new President has decided the DEI policies of the previous Administration are at fault for the crash.

 

That is cold, and based on nothing. The clown has no clue what ATC officers were on duty, nor their background nor why and how they were appointed. He just has decided to use a tragedy as yet another political attack on anyone who isn't him.

 

He's an absolutely vile excuse for a human being. Imagine how his idiotic comments have hurt family members of the deceased.

Ditto…..this happened on your watch trump!this breaks 19 years since the last big one in the USA!my deepest condolences to the bereaved…….what a dirtbag of a president disgraceful.

[Walker88]

30 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

Why on Earth would ATC allow the helicopter to enter airspace even remotely close to that runway with an aircraft landing? Wouldn't they tell the helicopter to hold its position until the aircraft landed? I mean a helicopter can hover for a moment, right?

The military and ATC are not on the same radio system, so the ATC has no control over where the helicopter goes. No way to contact. Base ATC warned the helicopter.

 

That mil base  has both constant training ops and carries VIPs around the DC/Virginia area. When training they are supposed to stay at 200 feet AGL or below. That copter was apparently at 400' AGL.

[Jingthing]

49 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

In a WH Press conference, long before any actual investigation and cause has been determined by actual experts, the new President has decided the DEI policies of the previous Administration are at fault for the crash.

 

That is cold, and based on nothing. The clown has no clue what ATC officers were on duty, nor their background nor why and how they were appointed. He just has decided to use a tragedy as yet another political attack on anyone who isn't him.

 

He's an absolutely vile excuse for a human being. Imagine how his idiotic comments have hurt family members of the deceased.

Total SCUM!

[Jingthing]

3 hours ago, rabas said:

 

Because that's where these guys have to fly. This UH-60 Blackhawk's squadron, based near by, is responsible for flying officials and VIPS around Washington including to the airport.  That doesn't make it a wise thing to do, but apparently Washington DC is a challenging air space. Some have suggested a problem waiting to happen. 

That airport should have been closed decades ago. The safety issues have always been known. Dulles was built to replace it.  It could have been kept open for military and security purposes of course.

[DonniePeverley]

That press conference by Trump was beyond sick. 

 

 

 

Let the families grieve, before you politicise whatever the hell you are on about. Let the investigation conclude.

 

 

 

Grim beyond belief. 

[BKKKevin]

11 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

In subsequent news conference Trump (With no facts or evidence about what caused the accident) on queue blames his latest boogeyman DEI hires… 

 

[Peabody]

2 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Deleted

 

[rabas]

5 hours ago, Walker88 said:

The military and ATC are not on the same radio system, so the ATC has no control over where the helicopter goes. No way to contact. Base ATC warned the helicopter.

 

That mil base  has both constant training ops and carries VIPs around the DC/Virginia area. When training they are supposed to stay at 200 feet AGL or below. That copter was apparently at 400' AGL.

 

AIrport ATC thinks they can. In fact they normally have two controllers one for helicopters and one for commercial flights so obviously they can communicate with both. Unfortunately at the time of the crash only one controller was handling both functions.

 

The ATC voice/radar video above shows the Airport controller calling to PAT25 multiple times. First asking if he sees the other plane, then instructing PAT25 to go behind it. Finally he issues a visual separation authorization basically authorizing both planes to take emergency action. 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

6 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

That press conference by Trump was beyond sick. 

 

 

 

Let the families grieve, before you politicise whatever the hell you are on about. Let the investigation conclude.

 

 

 

Grim beyond belief. 

He’s trying to deflect from this:

 

“Trump Gutted Key Aviation Safety Committee Before D.C. Plane Crash”

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-gutted-key-aviation-safety-142302712.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALasIUCi1xTTOs8M-ANjmcCnjq_Hwk14go30b0RWJ9T6XdzrFBblxv_R2s0N-6d5bhgLbNV50Q2S4VbHHAgq1vMFFaWtaEstmfdOFZg-rk8v0wUPBguRQcLVfi1aO2ygq2dHaFbFXCJaAEM9fQRiqpxRH2O4c51ENB2gVXvQcvq9

 

And this:

 

“The administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Whitaker, resigned from his position on January 20 after repeated demands from Elon Musk that he quit, leaving the agency without a Senate-confirmed leader during a major crisis in the wake of the D.C. plane crash.”

 

https://newrepublic.com/post/190942/faa-no-leader-dc-plane-crash-elon-musk

[JonnyF]

Seems Trump has more information than the experts on here.

 

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that discriminatory DEI hiring practices led to someone getting a job they were not qualified for, but let's wait and see. 

 

DEI - Discriminatory Erroneous Idiots.

[herfiehandbag]

17 hours ago, Purdey said:

Sad, but I wanted to be the first person to say...

Black Hawk down!

There, got it out of my system.

Yes it is deeply sad. Should have kept it in your system.

 

[herfiehandbag]

8 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Seems Trump has more information than the experts on here.

No,he just can't help bumping his gums.

Fools rush in and all that.

[Chomper Higgot]

19 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

You forgot to mention Nazis and Fascists.

 

You be slippin'. 😆

Congratulations Jonny, you get the thread’s Godwin Gong.

 

 

[Hamus Yaigh]

27 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Seems Trump has more information than the experts on here.

Trump literally said at the WH meeting he did not know all the facts and was offering his opinion on what went wrong. That he then ranted off on his DEI BS along with his lapdog VP on the same agenda says a lot for the people who support such a vile and inappropriate response when they still haven't pulled all the bodies out of the river.

[JonnyF]

5 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Trump literally said at the WH meeting he did not know all the facts and was offering his opinion on what went wrong. That he then ranted off on his DEI BS along with his lapdog VP on the same agenda says a lot for the people who support such a vile and inappropriate response when they still haven't pulled all the bodies out of the river.

 

No he doesn't know all the facts, but he will know a lot more than the deranged ranters on here.

 

Just like Starmer knew a lot about Southport. The difference is that Trump comes out and says it instead of trying to hide it from the public.

 

I for one, appreciated his update. 

 

He's doing a great job. Probably the best job of any President. 

[Tug]

18 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

https://ix.cnn.io/dailygraphics/graphics/20250129-dc-crash-map/static/media/ai2html-graphic-desktop.9a0f1774.jpg

 

Orange is the line of the plane, and yellow (or lighter one) is the path of the helicopter.

 

An air traffic controller said, “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The controller then said, “PAT 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”

The audio then captured audible gasps, including a loud “oooh” in the background apparently from the tower, at the moment of the crash.

The tower then alerted another pilot of what has taken place.

“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach end of 3-3. We are going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future if you want to go back to the gate. Highly suggest you guys coordinate with the company. Let me know what you want to do,” the controller says, referencing runway 33.

Rite now the speculation is that the chopper pilot was looking at the aircraft behind crj the ATC twice confirmed with the chopper pilot and the chopper pilot twice confirmed having crj in site tragically he was mistaken.RIP to all who were killed and my deepest condolences to the bereaved a very sad incident.

[JonnyF]

2 minutes ago, Tug said:

Rite now the speculation is that the chopper pilot was looking at the aircraft behind crj the ATC twice confirmed with the chopper pilot and the chopper pilot twice confirmed having crj in site tragically he was mistaken.RIP to all who were killed and my deepest condolences to the bereaved a very sad incident.

 

Certainly seems like human error. My guess is he/she/they/them were looking at the wrong plane, thought were at a safe distance and crashed into the other one. 

 

But let's wait and see. Hopefully the crew were hired based on their ability to do the job and not to fill some stupid quota. Trump appears to have information that suggests the latter. 

 

RIP the victims. 

[WorriedNoodle]

6 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

I for one, appreciated his update. 

Says a lot. To appreciate a leader who goes full political agenda campaign mode during a tragedy, blaming a president from more than eight years ago along with his recent nemesis for the accident, when families across all political spectrum and ethnic diversities are grieving over the loss of their loved ones and wanting answers.

[Yagoda]

Prayers for the Families of these DEI victims.

[JonnyF]

3 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

Says a lot. To appreciate a leader who goes full political agenda campaign mode during a tragedy, blaming a president from more than eight years ago along with his recent nemesis for the accident, when families across all political spectrum and ethnic diversities are grieving over the loss of their loved ones and wanting answers.

 

Yes he's a great man.

 

I'm sure he will get to the bottom of this tragedy and fix whatever caused it. 

 

The adults are back in the room but the children made a hell of a mess.