Posted on 01/30/2025 10:38:58 AM PST by ChicagoConservative27
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom appeared to blame the Black Hawk military helicopter for the collision on Wednesday at Ronald Reagan National Airport, CNBC reported Thursday.
The helicopter collided with American Eagle flight 5342 around 9 p.m., and officials do not believe there were any survivors, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Per the CNBC report:
“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,” Isom said at a Thursday morning press conference.
PSA Airlines is an American Airlines subsidiary and one of its regional carriers. American Eagle is how American Airlines brands its regional flights.
…
“We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones of the passengers and crew members and also for those that were on the military aircraft. Our focus right now is doing everything that we can to support all of those involved and also the PSA Airlines team,” he said.
Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told reporters he believes the crash was preventable, according to the New York Post. “We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point. But to back up what the president said. What I’ve seen so far do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” he commented in reference to President Donald Trump’s comments on the tragedy:
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Were the helo and the RJ on the SAME ATC frequency?
Or were there TWO ATC centers in “control,” one on
MIL Channels (200-400mHz), and one on civilian VHF
Aero channels?
Wre they under a unified ATC or TWO different ones?
Which begs the question, who designed that training program? Busy airport night training -- code name: Asteroids? Use all military aircraft at an air base to mock it up. Don't put civilian lives at risk.
Not enough time and that helo just shouldn’t have been there! Case closed.
“the copter seems to have had no reason to turn”
The river turns, and they were following the river.
That's only in uncontrolled airspace. In controlled airspace the right-of-way goes to whomever ATC says has it.
The CRJ was "cleared" for take-off, therefore his path-of-flight should have been "clear." In any case, the cardinal rule of aviation is See and Avoid. There can be circumstances in which one a/c can't possibly see the other but it would be rare to the extreme that neither could see the other. Chances are, somebody should have seen what was about to happen, and taken whatever measures necessary to avoid it.
I'm being speculative because I don't have all the facts but it appears very unlikely that the blame could lie with anyone other than the air traffic controller (whose responsibility it is to provide "separation" to all aircraft under his control) or the Army fight crew, or both.
The fact that the army crew failed to respond to two successive attempts by ATC to contact them to ascertain whether they were aware of and actively avoiding the CRJ, in my opinion would seem to dramatically narrow the scope of possible fault.
My hunch is that Isom is correct, but that doesn't mean the statement wasn't boorish.
You got part of that right. "Govt can't manage squat."
On the other hand, we've already lost at least two submarines since 1960.
- USS Thresher (SSN-593)
- USS Scorpion (SSN-589)
May those brave souls rest in peace!
The approval for visual flight separation is heard on the audio that’s been released.
But not the request for visual flight separation from the BH pilot.
That has me wondering if the request was made on a different frequency.
Oh really? Just how high should he have been?
Blackhawks don’t typically fly with transponders and ATC generally doesn’t track radar return targets.
Those are 2 flaws in the system which likely won’t be resolved anytime soon.
All kinds of questions come up...are military flights subject to civilian ATC orders?
...unless the Blackhawk flight crew was on the FAA’s so-called “approved mission flights” and was engaged in searching for something on the ground related to all the drone sightings even the current admin is now gaslighting about.
[tin hat off]
Clearly focused on something which distracted from their primary duty regardless.
HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER—
A VERY GOOD MOVIE
“YOU LOST A SUBMARINE?”
I have not heard an important point made in this discussion.
Helicopters can literally STOP forward flight and hover. They can likewise, turn on a dime.
The helicopter had infinitely more maneuvering options than the landing jet aircraft.
The landing jet was in a critical phase of the final approach and had few options as the pilots were focused on landing their airliner.
Looks like height could be a factor in both cases
Yes, that should have read, "... cleared to land..." but the principle is the same.
They better damn well be if they’re going to play army in an airport approach.
From the ATC recordings, the Controller had the Jet do a 40 degree turn. He told the copter pilot to look out for the Regional Jet but didn’t say where the jet was located and the helicopter fixated on the wrong Regional Jet.
ATC’s fault is my bet.
The jet had a huge speed advantage giving it a larger field of view and made a last minute course change.
Partial timeline...
8:40 p.m. — Flight 5342 begins approaching Reagan National’s Runway 33 from the south of Washington, DC.
8:48:38 p.m. — Air traffic control tower radios the US Army UH-60 helicopter (PAT25) and asks, “Do you have the CRJ in sight?” The helicopter pilot confirms he sees the passenger plane and requests “visual separation” — confirming he is going to try to fly out of the plane’s path.
8:48:56 p.m. — Flight 5342 and the helicopter collide over the Potomac at an altitude of about 300 feet, as the plane was traveling about 145 mph, per the last recordings from FlightRadar24. Air traffic controllers can be heard reacting, and asking, “Did you see that?”
Yes, there was a nasty crash in the 1971 involving a commercial airliner and a USMC F-4 that put military traffic under civilian ATC (At least in heavy traffic areas, IIRC).
Here it is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_Airwest_Flight_706
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