Posted on 01/30/2025 5:45:10 PM PST by CaptainK
On Tuesday night, just 24 hours before a deadly collision between a military helicopter and a regional jet over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, a different regional jet coming in for a landing at the airport alerted the air traffic control tower that it had to make a second approach.
We had an RA with a helicopter traffic below us,” a female voice in the cockpit of Republic Airways Flight 4514 said at roughly 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, according to the audio recording from air traffic control. “RA” is the code for the automated emergency alert, known as a resolution advisory, that pilots receive when their aircraft is at risk of collision with a nearby aircraft.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And? All of these procedures, including the RAs produced by the MCAS system (I don’t recall off the top of my head what the acronym means), were created to handle such interactions in a complex airspace. In the incident reported in this article, they appear to have worked correctly.
In the tragic accident last night, we need to figure out what went wrong before we do something to fix it. It may include ATC (Air Traffic Control) changes, technical changes in MCAS, or other things I haven’t thought of.
But, and it’s a big BUT, first we have to know what’s broken.
My youngest son is an air traffic controller for the Navy on the east coast. I’m waiting for something from him (as I’m sure he’ll be briefed on it) but we both are already thinking that helicopter should not have been in the air space around that airport.
Agreed, but one has to question the wisdom of military helo training activities at night, at busy commercial airports. Especially if the pilots were wearing night vision gear which takes time to adjust when shifting from bright objects (like the instrument panel) to dim objects outside the a/c.
“We had an RA with a helicopter traffic below us,” a female voice in the cockpit of Republic Airways Flight 4514 said at roughly 8:05 p.m.”
so no one thought to find out WHY a helicopter was flying below flight 4515 while it was trying to land? ... i guess they figured they wouldn’t worry about it until a bunch of people was killed the next time ...
So true. He wo jumps to conclions crawls back to find facts.
Fort Belvoir is 20 miles from that airport. Why are they doing training flight in the middle of DC and why near the landing paths for the airport?
On Facebook, there’s a person that plays reels of interactions between pilots and the towers and it can be scary - on both sides. Arguments, not listening to instructions etc.
BRING IN DIFFERENT CREWS FOR THE ATC FOR DC ...AND NOT FROM DC!
“so no one thought to find out WHY a helicopter was flying below flight 4515 while it was trying to land?”
The answer to that, in controlled airspace, is nearly always that ATC directed them to be there. In the case of last night’s accident the helo busted the ceiling of the helicopter corridor.
“And? All of these procedures, including the RA....”
And, there was a problem last night that had a helicopter incursion into the path of an airliner cleared to land.
That’s a problem. And the same thing happened the next night and killed a lot of people.
You can see the same thing on “VAS Aviation” on youtube.
CC
Was it the same army blackhawk helicopter?
The 12th Aviation Battalion, Fort Belvoir, is responsible for VIP transport around D.C. so restricted airspace is their stock-in-trade. The route through the helicopter corridor next to National is routine.
I’ve been in an aborted landing at National. Many years ago in bad fog we were practically touching down when the pilot changed his mind. Talk about nerve wracking! 😯
Trump warned the country the airports were a disaster.
steve86 wrote:
“The 12th Aviation Battalion, Fort Belvoir, is responsible for VIP transport around D.C. so restricted airspace is their stock-in-trade. The route through the helicopter corridor next to National is routine.”
“VIP transport around DC”
My Spidey sense is off-the-charts...
How 0bama changed the way air traffic controllers are selected:https://danfromsquirrelhill.wordpress.com/2025/01/30/just-a-2/
Media says they were tired and overworked. There are millions of bureaucrats in government but they can't seem find anyone to work in the towers.☺
Is there ANY way that the military chopper could have been hijacked? Or a suicidal pilot?
Was there anyone ‘important’ on that commercial jet that, ‘She Who Shall Not Be Named’ may have had to have snuffed out?
Was the night before the accident a dry run?
So much EVIL in the word these days...
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