D.C. Plane Crash!

This one is a bit personal to me, so I will try to keep my emotions out of it!
By now, I would imagine everyone knows we had a bad plane crash in D.C. involving a medium commuter jet and a Army Black Hawk Helo, No Survivors and this was 100% Preventable and 100% Avoidable!
Over the coming days and weeks,, there will be lots of finger pointing and gnashing of teeth about who's fault it was, what went so badly wrong, and most importantly, how to prevent anything like this from ever happening again!
As a Pilot, this hits close to home for me, as a professional Military Aviator, this hits doubly hard, as I understand both sides of this and how it happened, something Nobody seems to have put together just yet!

D.C. Ronald Reagan Airport is a nightmare, it's Big, it's busy as hell, it's super tight, and it has serious flight restrictions, it's a VERY VERY demanding field to fly in and out of, and how it's operated is supposed to prevent issues like this from happening, but none of what should have prevented this actually happened, all the holes in the swiss cheese liked up and BAM, a lot of people died! Which unfortunately seems to be the ONLY way things will ever get changed!
The first issue ( First Failure, First hole in the Swiss Cheese) is the very restrictive airspace this airport is in, you have a lot going on in a very small, VERY TIGHT area, the runways are tight and shorter then they should be, you have a number of high volume military aviation in VERY close proximity, and you have the Jobamma culture of failed military standards and all that which we don't need to discuss here!
The Second issue is: Flying a high volume of commercial traffic in and out of that field, often at night, and often in bad weather, you can certainly see how that could be a challenge in the best of times, this was NOT a bad time to be landing.
I have flown into and out of Regan a number of times, both as a Military Servicemen, and a Civilian Pilot, and I can tell you, it's a very difficult challenge that requires the utmost attention to details and very accurate navigation, not to mention special clearances to even attempt it, you absolutely have ZERO room for mistakes, you ether crash or get your ass shot down, period!
All of these factors contributed to last nights crash!

The first sign of trouble is how Military ( ALL ROTOR WING) Rotor Wing aircraft are flown through that airspace, they have VERY strict limits that have to be followed or you loose your privileges pure and simple. Here is where the accident started, about 3 min before the impact. The Army Blackhawk took off from the north of the airport near the capital mall, not to far from the Capital building. They were to fly the South Route 1 flight plan at NO MORE then 200 Feet MAX altitude, HARD STOP! Route 1 is the lowest risk plan, but is still VERY dangerous. and should be a hell of a lot better controlled, but it isn't, and this is going to be a MAJOR point discussion going forward!
As the Blackhawk is heading south, the incoming passenger jet is on his final initial approach to runway 1, the longest and most direct to the commercial jet traffic, and the easiest approach to use, especially in the conditions that were present last night, had this remained as planned, there would have been more then 1000 Yards of horizontal clearance, the Helo on the east side of the river, right on his Route as required, and the Jet on his normal approach to the north to Runway 1, on the other side of the river, no conflict! For some as yet to be explained, the final was changed, it was communicated to the Jet, and they were fine with it, understanding the change, far enough out to make it a pretty easy change, BUT, that change in landing runway put everyone on the collision course that ended in tragedy! For some unknown and yet to be explained reason, the Army Blackhawk climbed above his max of 200 feet, to 300 feet, putting him directly in the oncoming path of the jet who had just changed his short final from runway 1 to runway 33, and,......
BLAMO! Basically, the COntroller aligned both aircraft spatially directly in line with each other, the Jet descending down on top of and into the Helo, and the Helo, even had he not climbed,would still have been way too close, likely Blown down and crashed by the down wash from the jet, and the jet wash from the engines!
What we don't know, and has yet to be explained, WHAT the Actual FUCK was the ATC controller thinking, and how did he NOT see what was happening while it was happening, it's his entire freeking job to be the eyes and ears that are watching and communicating so that we don't have an issue that ended in tragedy! How and WHY was the Army Helo not called out for his altitude change, especially as he had violated his restrictions, that's a BIG NO-NO! Why did the controller allow that Heli to continue his route knowing it would be in close contact to intercepting the on coming approach of the Jet! Why did the Controller call to the Helo asking if he had visual on the jet??? that's the freekin CONTROLLERS GOD DAMN JOB, not the Helo's pilots! A whole bunch of the Holes in the Swiss Cheese all lined up and this is the result! Basically as I see it, the Controllers Change in landing approach put everyone in line for collision, so why the change, combined with the helo who was on course, but too high, ( was he attempting to clear an obstacle or flock of Geese?) why didn't the Tower Controller see any of this that he had partially set up, and why didn't the Tower Boss interviene and call for a missed approach and goo around, and then blast the Helo for being above his max altitude!

As a Civilian Pilot with nearly 40 years experience both in ultra high stress take off and landing approaches and departures, as well as operating out of uncontrolled fields, there are some very basic facets that we are all taught as junior eagles, before we even earn our wings,, these simple things would have prevented this tragedy from happening!
The first, on approach is AVIATE and NAVIGATE, FLY THE GOD DAMN AIRCRAFT all the way to the crash, or the Hnager, which ever comes first, get your goddamn eyes up and looking outside the aircraft, and NOT watching your instruments and focusing on the inside of the aircraft, LOOK out the windows! Second, Communicate, Hey assholes out there near here, I'm comin in hot, Get outta my way. And more then that, Seriously, I'm on my down wind long strait approach into Regan for runway 1 Right, Altitude 450 AGL, speed 230 knots! Now turning to Runway heading 33 right, any traffic in my flight path, turning left to final for runway 33, this will be a FULL STOP landing! Hey assholes, i'm on short final, no conflicting aircraft in sight, crossing the fence on runway 33 for a Full Stop landing! He assholes, i'm on the ground, and will taxi short to the second taxi way 33 Right for the fuel island and shut down! The whole thing here, even though the Tower controllers whole job is to De-Conflict the airspace, it's the PILOTS JOB to look and listen and watch for any and all hazards to his aircraft, and if he see's something he don't like, communicate it loud and clear to all involved, Hey assholes, there's a Blackhawk off to the left of runway 33 near my approach and altitude, tell that asshole to pull up and turn left and go around, he's in the god damn way, where the hell did he come from, Holy Shit, he climbed, i'm aborting and turning hard left and climbing out, Holy Shit, that bastard nearly collided with me,, somebody ground that muthatrucka !!! It's not hard, and no matter how stressed the controller seems, you as the pilot, the CAPTAIN, and are ultimately in control and it's YOUR job to fly that aircraft safely from take off all the way to the crash, or hopefully, safe landing and all the way to the hanger or in this case, terminal! NO controller has any authority over YOU, YOU are the captain, it's your command, and it's YOUR responsibility, not theirs! Take off's are much the same, Hey assholes, I'm taxing to Runway 81 left, looking to take of and will climb out to 500 and turn left midfield to cross and join the pattern to the south, advise if your close, I have a Blackhawk 4 miles to the north on the right hand pattern Route 1 heading south, anyone else close? Hey Assholes, i'm airborne and climbing out, turning left for cross field departure to the south in the pattern, have the Helo pver my left shoulder right hand pattern Route 2 south, will turn in behind and follow south for the turn and will exit at his turn, no conflict, no other heli's in sight, no conflicting aircraft my altitude!

If these pilots had followed those basics of Flying, eyes up and out, this wouldn't have happened, but, even if the Jet's Captain was actually eyes up Aviating and Navigating properly, which it appears he was, the change in landing runway removed his ability to have seen the conflict and taken action, and the Helo pilots. even with eyes up and out, should have seen the Jet coming at them and seen the conflict, especially knowing they were now too high, the all failed and all died because of it!

 

Juan has a really clear explanation of this whole thing, give this a watch!

 

I'm not pilot but I have to ask why are military training flights being conducted in a high commercial traffic area especially around Reagan which is a nightmare airport. My heart goes out to all who have died in this tragedy

 

Same here, Why run NIGHT training in this area at this time?

 

Yeah, that was my first thought also, given how busy this airport is why in hell are they doing training there, especially at night!

 

helicopters flying below 200 feet are skimming across DC all the time - according to reports this was an indoctrination flight for a new pilot to the area - not a totally newbie helicopter pilot ....

alllllll kinds of stupid BS is being chipped in - my fav is that Obammy was in the chopper - hitting today that the pilot was a tranny and committed suicide ....

definitely not helping the situation - the FFA Biden DEI policy - the Reagan control center was undermanned - the controller involved was doing double duty .....

won't & can't be concealed for long - but - I figure DEI will be figuring in >>>>

 

The way the media freaked out when trump mentioned DEI they already knew there was going to be DEI all over this.

Word on the street is thousands of qualified applicants were denied so the FAA could meet it's dei hiring targets and that's why they're short staffed.

 

There is all sorts of "Opinions" floating around out there, be careful what you watch!
The Juan Brown/Blancolirio YouTube channel is always a super good source that can be trusted with info like that his, Juan is careful not to jump into things with out solid facts, and generally keeps his opinion until he has enough information to then share, and he is almost always 100% correct!
The Dan Grider probable cause channel is hit and miss, while Dan is a highly respected pilot, he tends to jump to conclusions before he has enough information, and he also misses important Facts/Details, which makes his videos questionable at best! The Vasa Aviation channel is also a Solid, he is always the FIRST to post the actual ATC audio and actual Radar tracts of any event, AND he usually posts the actual ADSB/Flight Aware Date that shows the hard data that everyone knows to be Unquestionable, what makes his chanel great is he is the only one posting all the data in our place, so we don't have to search all over for it!

Bottom line here, the Tower Controller absolutely killed everyone here, period! The secondary issues all contributed, like the Helo flying outside he's route, above his max altitude, and if this was training, that much worse, and while the Helicopter pilots absolutely Fucked it all up and died for it, it's still the Tower Controller shifting the Jets landing approach that killed everyone!

 

Someone floated this...first plane coming from Kansas, second plane from Philadelphia both teams in the Superbowl-comms???

Chatter is it stalled from improper load. It didnt turn when it was supposed to.

 

If ya looks at the ADSB data of the flight, she never slowed anywhere near stall, even with an imbalance, it shows she lost control nearly 220Kts, not the 120 or so stall that type is known for, my bet is "Spatial Disentoriation" given the time of night and short flight before the crash, this is more likely then a Stall, the data just doesn't jive for anything else! She hit the ground at nearly 11000 feet per min, about 250 kts!

 

Yep trump was right DEI is all over this.


Yep 2010 they implemented DEI, it got so bad so fast by 2013 the FAA went soft on their decertification and retraining proces because the DEI highers were crying "racism". Aircraft crashing into each other was always going to be the only possible logical outcome of this. Surprised it took this long.

 

That one looks like it hit the ground damn near supersonic. Only way air traffic control could have been involved with this was if they instructed the pilot to nose down 40 degrees and push the throttle all the way forward.

 

Now I'm hearing the helicopter pilot "was/were"...

 

Everything from Mexico is sus.
New Mexico isn't much better.
Rumor is the helo pilot was trans AF.
Not releasing "her" name way after the family has been notified is more sus than a "medical flight" from Mexico.