Posted on 01/31/2025 12:29:30 AM PST by Morgana
An air traffic control veteran with 23 years of experience has revealed the mistake operators made in the moments leading up to the deadly collision in Washington, DC.
The American Airlines jet with 64 people onboard crashed with a US Army helicopter carrying three soldiers over the icy waters of the Potomac River Wednesday night, killing everyone.
The Black Hawk helicopter apparently flew in the jet's path as it landed at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Investigators working through the wreckage in the Potomac uncovered two black box flight recorders on Thursday night as they attempt to determine what went wrong.
An experienced air traffic controller told DailyMail.com that the air traffic control (ATC) audio that emerged from the crash showed the operator's instructions to the helicopter were 'very ambiguous.'
In the nearly minute-and-a-half recording, ATC operators can be heard asking the helicopter if the commercial flight is in sight.
Through muffled audio, more commands and confirmations are made between ATC operators.
One air traffic controller said to the helicopter pilot: 'PAT 2-5, do you have the CRJ in sight?'
Seconds later, the controller spoke again, requesting: 'Pat 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
A plane lands at upwards of 165mph, that’s about 250ft/scd. That’s not a lot of reaction time if the air traffic controller hasn’t done due diligence and gives clear instructions.
Let’s hope no one got misgendered during the conversation. That’s the important part.
Looks like a near-perfect closing solution to me.
Misgendered persons would crash the plane on purpose if you offended them that way.
That is not how I would describe the helicopter's path. And Standard ceiling of helicopters in that air space was top at 200 feet. The collision was said to have been at 400 feet. (assuming that the altimeter on the helicopter was correct, it should never have happened. Terrain in the Potomac river area would affect the reading in one instance, but the chopper was always over the water and it was at the collision.)
Whole string of very costly errors.
- TBD
Im sure the pronoun protocol was followed
Are you certain of this?
It is rumoured the helicopter pilot was a transgender. It’s out of the possibility he/she decided to show the world what happens when you don’t respect pronouns.
That is the point of my snarky remark.
I know
Thats why I replied in kind
:)
People were also saying that the ATC operator may not have been a native English speaker which could have led to communication issues.
I want the NAMES and PICTURES of the ATC people AND the Helicopter crew!!
So it was ATC’s fault?
Indeed. The misgendering occurred immediately after the conversation: 64 persons identifying as We/Be/Flying abruptly changed to We/Be/Dead.
IACO rules require that all "International" Airports have at least one French speaking and one English speaking controller on duty during all hours of operation. Air France pilots prefer to communicate with Logan in English. Quebecair insist on using la langue française.
British airways communicates in English, but you can’t understand them.
“It is rumoured the helicopter pilot was a transgender.”
“The pilot of the Black Hawk has been identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) Jo Ellis, a transgender woman. Jo Ellis served in the Virginia National Guard for 15 years and transitioned while serving as a pilot. Jo has been making radicalized anti-Trump statements on socials. pic.twitter.com/JweX9sdtRM— Francesco™️ (@FakeGayPolitics) January 31, 2025”
He/she was in training, I think. When the SHTF about this DEI person, they’re probably going to say that he/she wasn’t the one actually flying the helicopter, and that it was one of the guys. But they’re all dead now, so who can know the truth? Maybe recordings between them and the tower can help distinguish one voice from another.
Quebec is more miserable than France
I worked with a Haitian engineer (good guy, ambitious, hard working) at Raytheon. We did a lot of testing with the Army, where we communicated with the Army personnel (civilians I believe) over radio, he took a lot of shifts on headset. (Only one member of our crew spoke during a mission. We took turns.) He had a distinct Haitian accent, but I never noticed any deficiencies. Last I heard he was actually working at a contractor (Raytheon) maintained site in Japan with his Haitian bride. I don’t know what the Japanese make of him.
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