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https://x.com/aviationbrk/status/1885321930506457450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1885321930506457450%7Ctwgr%5Ee720eb90d3074f056506fb5a69b27964ff1f7ea6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnotthebee.com%2Farticle%2Ftrump-says-army-chopper-was-flying-too-high-by-a-lot-as-new-up-close-videos-emerge-of-collision
Name of third helicopter pilot please….
I have read the helicopter was supposed to be flying at 200 feet, but the crash occurred at around 375 feet. Is 175 feet of separation really acceptable for an approach?
Do military helicopters carry black boxes?
So both male pilots have their names published immediately BUT the female pilot gets special consideration. Looks to me like DEI is still in effect. Doesn’t the family know that by asking for special treatment they are drawing more attention and the fallout will be worse than if they had just acted like the other families and allowed the truth to come out from the beginning.
Okay, I’m late to the game here and I’ll likely get roasted for this, but as a old former Navy SH-60 aircrewman (basically the same airframe as the Blackhawk) I have some thoughts on this tragedy... First, if the reports are true that the Blackhawk was not at its assigned altitude this is helo pilot error in the first degree. As for a suicidal flight by the helo pilot(s) into the CRJ, I can’t see it. Helo’s while exceptionally maneuverable just aren’t fast enough to deliberately close on a jet, even a jet at traveling at approach speed. To me it looks like 1) helo pilot error, and 2) ATC failure to retain flight path separation for some reason, either incompetence or the controller being overwhelmed by the volume of traffic, or lack of adequate manning in the tower (see incompetence). Just my $.02. (Oh, and I wonder who the third pilot was?)
I saw video of this right after it happened, and I watched it a number of times. One thing I noticed was, a few seconds after the collision and the wreckage falling into the river, there was a fireball on the ground. It might have just been a optical illusion, but it appeared to be along the flight path before the river, just behind where the plane went in. I have noticed more recent videos cut off before the fireball. I don’t know if there is anything significant about that. Just an observation.
Hopefully, the vast majority were dead before their brains were able to begin processing what had happened
It looks like someone driving onto a highway, not looking for oncoming traffic.
In the end, I think this is all on the pilot of the Blackhawk. They “merged without looking to their left.”
I have read many of the 1000’s of FReeper posts regarding the DC crash.
I have not seen any FReeper say this:
Is it just a coincidence that military personnel have been involved in 3 recent incidents?
1. New Orleans Bourbon Street terror event on Jan 1.
2. Las Vegas Trump Hotel terror event on Jan 1.
3. Blackhawk t-boning passenger jet on Jan 27.
Heads need to roll. Courts martials. Brig time. DOD is not exempt. Some ass playing army in controlled airspace like a tw*t. Good men are dead. Steamfitters that I personally knew. Best of the best who worked hard their whole life to get to where they were. That’s all gone because of some careless nigh training in a flight path? Get real. I’ll be waiting for the court martial of the entire chain of command. They need to suffer.
It seems that this tragedy was a series of errors by the helicopter - out of their flight corridor, above their flight ceiling, focused on avoiding the wrong plane, and limitations on vision created by NVG. Suggests to me that the DOD is overstating the competence of the crew. When it was stated that this was a training mission, what exactly is meant by that? Was the flight done by a highly competent crew who was training on a specific mission or was the flight done to train a pilot to gain basic competence? If it was the latter, I could see the DOD going into CYB mode.
The lack of evasive action by the helicopter could imply a deliberate collision but until other information comes out, it is also perfectly consistent with the jet not being seen until the last possible moment, leaving no time to react.