Midair Collision Near Reagan National Sends Plane into Potomac River

[Eric Loh]

What a train wreck under Trump and it is only 2 weeks old. Those who vote for him are getting their pang of buyer's remorse as he continue to divide the nation and alienate allies for the next 4 years. 

[ElwoodP]

Troll post and reply removed.

Keep it polite and civil please.

[spidermike007]

The Blackhawk was totally responsible and it was an astonishing and horrific mistake. Hegseth should answer for this. The buck now stops with this incompetent. 

[WorriedNoodle]

8 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Yes he's a great man.

I thought more along the lines of that he's the lowest form of life to hold a conference like that for his own gain and points scoring.

[JonnyF]

1 minute ago, WorriedNoodle said:

I thought more along the lines of that he's the lowest form of life to hold a conference like that for his own gain and points scoring.

 

Yes it seems we have a difference of opinion. 

 

Never mind. 

[lordgrinz]

This tidbit doesn't bode well, maybe helicopters should steer clear of busy airports designed for airline traffic.

 

Quote

"Wednesday's crash came just 24 hours after a near miss between another commercial jet and a helicopter at Reagan National."

 

[brewsterbudgen]

18 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

 

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. 

He really isn't, you know.  Or were you joking?

[Yagoda]

11 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

What a train wreck under Trump and it is only 2 weeks old. Those who vote for him are getting their pang of buyer's remorse as he continue to divide the nation and alienate allies for the next 4 years. 

I dont know any buyers remorse, care to give us some examples?

[KhunLA]

10 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

What a train wreck under Trump and it is only 2 weeks old. Those who vote for him are getting their pang of buyer's remorse as he continue to divide the nation and alienate allies for the next 4 years. 

Let me guess ... you think the crash was Trump's fault 

[JonnyF]

3 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

This tidbit doesn't bode well, maybe helicopters should steer clear of busy airports designed for airline traffic.

 

 

 

Yes standards can slip under weak and incompetent leadership.

 

I'm sure Trump will sort this immediately. 

[Yagoda]

10 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The Blackhawk was totally responsible and it was an astonishing and horrific mistake. Hegseth should answer for this. The buck now stops with this incompetent. 

Yeah hes had a whole day. 

 

Possibly the dumbest comment from a Trump Deranger ever and that says a lot.

[Nid_Noi]

8 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The Blackhawk was totally responsible and it was an astonishing and horrific mistake. Hegseth should answer for this. The buck now stops with this incompetent. 

Maybe Hegseth should have grounded all military operations until a total review of the aircrews qualifications. Then he would have been accused of putting the nation in danger due to lack of readiness. In this kind of debate you never win.

[morrobay]

Sure the lights at night can be confusing. But the question is why was the helicopter at almost 400 ft.? The helicopter could have passed under the jet had the helicopter been at the proper 200 ft.  So how do three experiencerd crew members allow the helicopter to be almost 200 ft too high?

[Eric Loh]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Let me guess ... you think the crash was Trump's fault 

Common sense tell me to wait for the full investigation conclusion. 

[Nid_Noi]

9 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

This tidbit doesn't bode well, maybe helicopters should steer clear of busy airports designed for airline traffic.

 

 

Do you expect all these DC VIPs to crawl with the traffic among the populace at rush hours to get to their private or chartered jets?

[lordgrinz]

Just now, Nid_Noi said:

Do you expect all these DC VIPs to crawl with the traffic among the populace at rush hours to get to their private or chartered jets?

 

I know, but obviously flying helicopters through flight paths and landing zones for airliners at a busy airport isn't working out to well. The military helicopters should for now on ask for clearance before entering, and hold until given the OK to proceed.

[Nid_Noi]

5 minutes ago, morrobay said:

Sure the lights at night can be confusing. But the question is why was the helicopter at almost 400 ft.? The helicopter could have passed under the jet had the helicopter been at the proper 200 ft.  So how do three experiencerd crew members allow the helicopter to be almost 200 ft too high?

Yes it’s a fact but I don’t understand why the traffic is allowed over the eastern shore of the Potomac when runway 33 is active.

Also in case of an imminent collision ATC instructions should have been: « PAT 25 turn heading 90 degrees NOW » or « PAT 25 hold position NOW » but you don’t ask the pilot if he has the CRJ700 in sight when both are flying on a collision course.

Flying in a busy class B airspace at night in rush hours is very challenging even when cleared by ATC. Hundreds of lights of different colours are blinking (aircrafts, buildings, monuments, transmission towers, emergency vehicles, etc…) so what distinguishes an aircraft from other obstacles, the starboard green light and the port red light at the wing tip added to the mandatory landing lights. So based on trajectories the helicopter pilot should have recognized the green light and the landing lights.

I don’t know if military helicopters are TCAS equipped but flying in class B airspace they should.

[Patong2021]

23 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?!

 

Because there is a military airbase adjacent to the airport and this is  congested airspace. Every year there are multiple near misses.

The closed airspace of a large part of DC compounds the congestion issue.

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour 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.

Yes, it says an awful lot about both the President and Vice President of the United States!

 

The Dignity of the Office and all that...

[lordgrinz]

6 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Because there is a military airbase adjacent to the airport and this is  congested airspace. Every year there are multiple near misses.

The closed airspace of a large part of DC compounds the congestion issue.

 

So military helicopters can just cross flight paths of inbound landing craft, at will?!

[TedG]

2 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

So military helicopters can just cross flight paths of inbound landing craft, at will?!

It’s all about the VIP.  

[ballpoint]

This guy provides a very detailed examination of the events, including ATC communications and video from the control tower.  Anyone really interested in what happened, and not just here for political dung tossing, is advised to spend the 13 minutes watching it.

 

[lordgrinz]

1 minute ago, TedG said:

It’s all about the VIP.  

 

I just don't understand why the military helicopter wasn't told to hold his position while the plane lands, then told to proceed on his way. Putting them both on a collision course, even at different heights (in this case 200 ft difference), is just too dangerous.

[Patong2021]

29 minutes ago, Nid_Noi said:

Do you expect all these DC VIPs to crawl with the traffic among the populace at rush hours to get to their private or chartered jets?

 

Why post such nonsense? Who are the DC VIPS who use these private and chartered jets that cause the  problems?

 

If it is  government business and employees, then they would most likely be flying on aircraft  located at Andrews AFB or Dulles.. If it is international or long haul, it will most likely be Dulles.   The issue with Reagan National is the large number of domestic flights in a small airspace. There are large parts of the  area that are closed to  commercial air traffic. The flight paths are further restricted  between 10 PM and 7 AM for noise abatement.   There are military, and homeland security  airbases that have traffic.

Every time, there is talk of reducing the number of flights at Reagan the locals protest. They don't want the longer drive to Dulles. Reagan is convenient.  This incident has nothing to do with DC VIPS.  

 

Your comment is  so clueless. A private aircraft cannot just show up to land  at Reagan National. The aircraft requires a TSA waiver or enrollment in the TSA’s DC Access Standard Security Program (DASSP). This requires that only the registered pilots and aircraft can fly into the airport.  That is why the lobbyists fly commercial.

 

You obviously have never flown into  Washington DC.

[sqwakvfr]

8 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

I just don't understand why the military helicopter wasn't told to hold his position while the plane lands, then told to proceed on his way. Putting them both on a collision course, even at different heights (in this case 200 ft difference), is just too dangerous.

I have been pondering about that as well.  Also, it seems like the controller by saying "maintain seperation"  relieved himself of seperating traffic.  Thr RJ was on short final so the crew cannot be held responsible for anything that comes from behind.  I believe in the end the FAA and/or the DOD will be held responsible and liable to the familes who died. 

[Patong2021]

17 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

So military helicopters can just cross flight paths of inbound landing craft, at will?!

 

They can if they respect the distance requirements.  You do know that this happens everyday at BKK and at other large airports?

In this case, it appears that the helicopter distance requirement was not respected. There would have bene multiple warnings in both the Helicopter and commercial aircraft, so there may have been a mechanical or avionics issue wi.th the helicopter. How about letting the investigators do their job first?

[sqwakvfr]

2 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

I think the record is still skipping, maybe if you hit the power button on the record player, the political soap box will stop. Give it a try, for all of our sakes.

There is time to stay quiet and there is time to say something.  Both Sec Def and POTUS need to stay quiet and let Jennifer Homendy(Chairperson of the NTSB) do the talking.  The NTSB is the best at  investigating aircraft accidents. 

[lordgrinz]

Just now, sqwakvfr said:

I have been pondering about that as well.  Also, it seems like the controller by saying "maintain seperation"  relieved himself of seperating traffic.  Thr RJ was on short final so the crew cannot be held responsible for anything that comes from behind.  I believe in the end the FAA and/or the DOD will be held responsible and liable to the familes who died. 

 

According to the video above, the military helicopter took over responsibility for "visual" separation at night, that's just bonkers! A busy airport with multiple planes landing on that runway, and the ATC hands over safety to a helicopter trying to cross the runway path?!

[KhunLA]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

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.

Never let the facts get in the way of your BS ...

 

[TedG]

8 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

  This incident has nothing to do with DC VIPS.  

 

 

 

The helo in question exists to fly VIPs around DC.