Posted on 08/05/2025 9:08:28 AM PDT by Red Badger
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings on the devastating Washington, DC, helicopter-plane crash that killed 67 people revealed devastating findings last week, with Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy scolding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for ignoring safety concerns.
The NTSB interrogated FAA and U.S. Army officials on the series of events that led to a Black Hawk helicopter colliding with a passenger jet as it descended into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport during what the Associated Press (AP) described as “three days of sometimes contentious hearings.”
The 64 passengers and crew killed on the American Airlines flight included a group of young figure skaters, coaches, and family members returning from Wichita, Kansas, Breitbart News reported.
The helicopter also had no survivors, losing all three crew members in the tragic accident.
Last week’s hearings not only revealed that the Black Hawk’s altimeter gauge was broken, but that air traffic controllers had warned the FAA years earlier about the growing risk of helicopters flying in close proximity to landing airplanes.
“Are you kidding me? Sixty-seven people are dead! How do you explain that? Our bureaucratic process?” Homendy said to FAA officials at one point. “Fix it. Do better.”
As the Associated Press reported:
The helicopter was flying at 278 feet (85 meters) — well above the 200-foot (61-meter) ceiling on that route — when it collided with the airliner. But investigators said the pilots might not have realized that because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 meters) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.
The NTSB subsequently found similar discrepancies in the altimeters of three other helicopters from the same unit.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
AVIATION PING!..............
Broken altimeter — and a pilot with vertigo.
DEI all over the place.
A female pilot who had spent an inordinate amount of time in the White House, who had a paucity of flight hours to be flying in such a dangerous and highly constrained corridor.
There have been issues involving that airspace for decades.
Yet those problems have never been addressed.
Could it be because a lot of pols and bureaucrats like to travel by helicopter and don’t want anything done because it would inconvenience them...?
Any pilot who can't tell that the altimeter is defective when it reads 100ft at 274 is also at fault. She should have taken remedial action by making sure to fly well below that ceiling.
Additional thoughts —
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” he tells the story of a jetliner that crashed into a mountain. IIRC it was a Korean flight crew. The co-pilot pointed out the low altitude and the danger. The senior pilot didn’t want to hear it. As Gladwell explains, Korea is a hierarchical society. Co-pilots don’t tell pilots what to do. So the co-pilot shut up and they crashed into a mountain. This (thank goodness) led to a cultural change in some countries at least in terms of pilot training (ex. “Listen to your crew”)
DEI has made the US one of those hierarchical societies. Men don’t correct women. Whites don’t correct blacks. Normal people don’t correct homosexuals. There is a hierarchical order, and you need to know your place before you speak to your betters.
The flight instructor in the helicopter should have taken the controls from the DEI woman. But he knew his place and just let her crash two planes.
Did you hear the part were the FAA guy trys to explain why none of the controllers were tested for drugs or alcohol? He basically said “ we have to review the tapes first to see who needs to be tested”. Would’nt that be a bit too late?
The H-60 had radar altimeters to supplement the barometric.
RadAlt is what I would have used.
Yes, I have 3+ decades of flying H-60’s....multiple versions.
I like your explanation, it makes perfect sense.
I seriously doubt that will be listed as a factor. Can’t have the truth out there.
Even if both were at their assigned altitude this is still a bad idea in the extreme. It gives little room for error and the wake turbulence from a large jet could be extreme on a smaller aircraft.
IIRC, a commercial pilot cannot consume alcohol for at least 8 hours before a flight. Some airlines it’s 12 hours.
You would think an ATC would be the same regulation..............
And night vision goggles.
Completely preventable.
“Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ignoring safety concerns”
Its not the lives of those in the FAA, nor their money, nor their future livelihood at stake. Honestly, why do those working at the FAA care about things like “safety” of someone else and someone else’s airline? Actually, there’s strong evidence the gov’t likes death to lower the population.
That is the problem with all these alphabet soup federal regulatory agencies. They love the power and control over others and the income for themselves, but they have no personal interest in the thing they are regulating. Just go to work, put in your time, collect your paycheck, and think of ways to increase your paycheck - just like everybody else. The purported “do-good” reason for the bureaucracy is quickly lost.
Better is private industry and private enterprise taking care of their own. The free market in the voluntary cooperation between buyers and sellers will do a good job of weeding out the low quality and careless providers - they will go out of business because buyers in their own self-interest will buy elsewhere.
A large part of the FAA and the other alphabet soup federal agencies is a huge and profound waste of taxpayers’ money.
Once again, DEI=DIE.
The Sikorsky Blackhawkk UH-60L version has three altimeters: barometric pressure, radio (radar), and GPS. They did a test of three helos from the Army unit simultaneously flying in formation and the three barometric pressure altimeters did not agree on altitude, but there WAS good agreement on all three radio altimeters. The barometric altimeters all read 80-100 feet BELOW the radio altimeter. The helo was flying at 325 feet whereas the permissible helo ceiling on that route is 200 feet.
The Sikorsky Blackhawkk UH-60M version (the "Mike" version) has improved altimeters. Scott Rosengren of U.S. Army said he would urge that all "Lima" (i.e., L version) be taken out of service and replaced with "Mike" version.
Jeff Ostroff breaks it all down in his excellent video: DC Plane Crash NTSB UPDATE: Shocking New Details, Photos, Video AA 5342
We have a friend who is a commercial pilot. Rarely do you seem him have any alcohol, even though he offers it to his guests. If you do see him drink, you know he is just got back from duty, and has a few days off before he flies again. He’s a great guy. He takes his job and his responsibilities very seriously.
Reminds me of Reagan’s quote, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”
But she supported gay rights. Ain’t Affirmative Action wonderful.
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