Posted on 01/30/2025 11:20:14 AM PST by Red Badger
In order to enable safe flight, airspace is split into categories ranging from very tightly controlled areas around airports to other zones – mostly rural – where rules are much more relaxed.
The most stringently controlled zones are Class A airspace, such as the area around the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington.
Pilots must obtain clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) to enter and, except in an emergency situation, must follow ATC instructions – such as on heading, height or clearance to land – to the letter.
If reconstructions of the situation in Washington on Wednesday night and ATC instructions are correct, a passenger aircraft seems to have been given clearance to line up and land on runway 33 (the runway is laid out on heading 330 degrees, with the opposite direction being 150 degrees.)
Donald Trump took to his Truth Social network overnight and wrote: “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport.
“The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a clear night, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn.”
In ordinary flight outside controlled airspace, when two aircraft are approaching each other the aircraft on the right-hand side has right of way.
This is why one wing has a red light and the other green – approaching aircraft have a visual cue to take avoiding action or not, depending on which colour of light they see.
Once given clearance to land by ATC, however, an aircraft does not have to alter course even if, as seems to be the case in this incident, another aircraft (the military Black Hawk helicopter) is closing in on its right-hand side.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yes - that right there is the problem.
The chopper would have mode C on its transponder. ATC knew how high he was.
I believe there is also a rule, for watercraft, that, if a collision threatens, between two vessels of radically different sizes, only the smaller craft maneuvers to avoid the collision -- the larger vessel maintains course, and speed. The thought is that the danger of collision is increased if you have two vessels playing Alphonse and Gaston, with each changing, and rechanging, course towards the other.
I don't know if aircraft have similar rules.
Most people don’t know flight levels. 18,000ft through 60,000ft.
What happens if you are wearing night vision goggles and a bright light is shined directly at you ?????
It’s like looking directly at the Sun. Both pilot and copilot were wearing these goggles, from what I’ve read.
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