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 ...
IT happened at 9 PM.
I’ve read that helicopters are never to fly in plane flight paths and obviously this was what was going on.
“Air traffic control’s communications with Black Hawk pilot
A recording released by LiveATC.net of the communications between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport air traffic control (ATC) and the Black Hawk helicopter indicates the military flight crew was aware of the American Airlines plane’s approach before the crash.
ATC is heard in the recording asking the crew of the helicopter, which the controller referred to as “PAT 25,” if the plane was visible.
“PAT 25, do you have CRJ in sight?” ATC said, using the initials for the make of the American Airlines aircraft, a Bombardier CRJ700.
Two seconds later, ATC provided instructions to the helicopter crew, saying, “PAT 25, pass behind the CRJ.” Three seconds later, the controller provides further instructions to the helicopter crew, saying, “PAT 25 has aircraft in sight – maintain visual separation.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/reagan-national-airport-closed-due-aircraft-emergency/story?id=118246693
TAKE OFF & LANDINGS OPPOSING each other??
Mmm. Sounds sub-opimal. Reminds me of a hood...
Maybe they ought to consider doing “coninuity” training out in the desert somewhere — in sims...
Names of the helicopter victims?
no, 330 -/+ 180 so 150.
note that as a quick check the digits ogfthe two add up to the same thing (6). A useful mathematical fact about reciprocal headings.
Yep, strange, runway system they have..........................
Points 3 & 4 seem to be the issue.
All points do not address flying at almost double the allowed ceiling.
You can’t control incursions into controlled airspace when the pilot ignores the area.
This is why you can't believe anything written in a newspaper these days.
The only thing the media get right are sports scores. The scores are important, and there are too many witnesses to lie about them.
No names but co-pilot was female in this report.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4293725/posts?page=59#59
My guess last night was the H/C pilot saw the other A/C that was taking off to his right side and not the AA jet landing from his left side. Plus they were wearing Night Vision Goggles that severely limit your peripheral vision to about 40 degrees of view.................
True................
Family notification maybe?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the plane on Runway 1 taking off, not landing...?
Training for what though? I still have concerns about the military being used as a taxi service for Pentagon Brass and Anthony Fauci. Reminder.....Fauci’s bio labs were military research facilities.
Not sure. Just posted what the Breitbart reporter said for additional points for discussion.
just realized theres an exception: 000-009 and 180-189. The relation comes from being the same modulo 90. If you use tens of degrees ( as with runway headings) and call north 36 instead of 0 it holds.
IIRC, TCAs came about after the 1978 PSA v Cessna midair collision in San Diego, with the idea being that more positive control was needed in congested airspace in order to prevent midairs.
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