Free Republic

The Army announced Friday that at the request of the female pilot’s family, it is withholding the name of one of three Black Hawk helicopter crew members killed in the mid-air collision with a passenger plane over the Potomac River while the plane was on final approach Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., Wednesday night. The Army said the name “will not be released at this time”, leaving open the possibility of later public identification.

CNN obtained two new videos that show the collision from much closer than previously available clips. Both show that the Army helicopter did not attempt to swerve before colliding with the American Airlines flight out of Wichita.

In order to enable safe flight, airspace is split into categories ranging from very tightly controlled areas around airports to other zones – mostly rural – where rules are much more relaxed. The most stringently controlled zones are Class A airspace, such as the area around the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington. Pilots must obtain clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) to enter and, except in an emergency situation, must follow ATC instructions – such as on heading, height or clearance to land – to the letter. If reconstructions of the situation in Washington on Wednesday night and ATC...

Bodies of 41 people killed when an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter collided in the air over Washington, DC, Wednesday night have been recovered from the wreckage, officials said Friday. The Black Hawk chopper hit the airplane, coming from Wichita, Kansas, as it approached Runaway 33 at Reagan National airport around 9 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. ...SNIP: 59 minutes ago Supervisor let air traffic controller leave shift early before crash: report By Patrick Reilly A supervisor at the Reagan National Airport tower reportedly let an air traffic controller leave early from his shift shortly before...