A lot of the propaganda cover-up squad has been saying it's so easy to lose planes in the city lights.
I don't buy it. IMO, those landing lights on the plane are way too big and bright to be mistaken for anything other than a landing plane, especially when you know you are literally crossing a landing approach flight path. Every single helicopter pilot that flies this route knows, without doubt, they are crossing a flight path with descending planes looking to land.
I spent 20+ years taking girls to Gravelly Point which is off the end of the runway at DCA on the northwest end. I've watched hundreds, if not 1000s of planes land right over my head at 100' at night. The landing lights are very bright and you can see planes coming in from a distance miles off - 5-7 minutes out.
Also, the direction AA5342 was approaching was from the south which does not have the lights of DC behind it. In fact, it's rather dark looking that direction as the Potomac opens up. It was completely clear that night.
In my opinion it would be nearly impossible not to see the landing lights of a plane approaching about 20-30 degrees off axis under those conditions.
Thank you for that thorough account. This newer video in this post makes the lights on the airplane look like ballpark lights coming in. They are super bright.
Even if the pilot had Night Vision Goggles (NVG) on, there were two other people that could notice the plane.
And just like we all know to look both ways before crossing the street, this is the exact same situation in flying terms. The helicopter pilot knew he was crossing the flight path of commercial airlines landing. For his own life, he would have looked both ways.
Hopefully, we get to hear the black box recordings so we at least get some understanding of what happened moments before impact.
I'm not sure if the pilot would have been wearing NODs. They would have them with them, but they will take your vision from 20/20 to 20/50 in terms of resolution making it hard to read the gauges, most importantly altitude and direction. Not to mention the noise pollution and the landing lights would be very rough on the eyes.
What was he doing at 350-400' when he was supposed to be under 200'?
I don't think Black Hawks have voice flight recorders. They may have a black box for telemetry.
There was nothing telling over the tower comms. No signs of distress. Aviate, navigate, communicate in that order. If you are communicating, it is assumed there are no other issues.
Also this just out (Fox):
1 hour(s) ago
Family of third soldier killed requesting Army not release name
The family of the third solider killed in Wednesday's deadly midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is requesting their identity not be publicly released, the Army said Friday.
The Army has named the other soldiers killed in the collision. They were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia.
Eaves' remains have not been recovered. He served in the Navy from August 2007 to September 2017 before transitioning to a Black Hawk pilot for the Army in September 2017.
O’Hara began serving as Black Hawk helicopter mechanic in July 2014.
NP. I will add that DCA is THE most difficult airport in the US to land in. Pilots flying i/o DCA routinely train on the simulator for all approaches and lift offs.
The number of near misses there is staggeringly high. I used to fly 100k mi/yr i/o of DCA. Once we were coming in on south approach (south to north) at about 200' @ 20 secs to wheels down when suddenly we pulled up sharp to the northwest. Everyone was surprised by the abruptness. We then went into a pattern I had never experienced over Alexandria and parts of Fairfax on a second approach. The guy across the aisle from me looked really pissed off. So I engaged him. Turns out he was the FAA tower manager at DCA. The second we hit the ground, he whips out his flip phone, makes a brief call and then slams his phone shut. He confirmed to me we almost landed on a plane that was about to start rolling for wheels up.
Wow! So why do they have a helicopter route that follows the Potomac that basically crosses the landing approach flight path? Can't the helicopters go further away from the runway, so if they are off by 100 feet in altitude it's no big deal? It seems so dicey.
My closest call was actually at cruising altitude over "flyover country." I don't recall feeling any evasive maneuvers, but I happened to be looking out the window and another airplane (Boeing or Airbus) crossed directly beneath us a couple hundred feet away. You could almost feel a jet wash it was so close. I've never seen that before and it took my breath away.
Those are dumbasses. If what they were saying is true then why in the fuck would a training sortie be ran in a high traffic area full of heavy civilian aircraft? Doubly so, a training sortie run by a pilot with, what was it, 500 hours? I still think gross negligence is on the table as a possibility but the more info that comes out the more it looks less accidental. This will be memory holed like Mandalay Bay soon.
Approval had been given for the helicopter to fly no higher than 200 feet along the east side of the Potomac River, where it would have avoided the passenger jet.
The pilot of the helicopter confirmed sight of the American Airlines flight and was told to stick to their predetermined route and go behind the plane.
Sources said the pilot did not stick to the path however and was a half-mile off course as well as being at an altitude above 300 feet.
A senior Army official told The Times that the pilot of the Black Hawk had flown the route before and was well aware of the tight altitude restrictions and routes.
What I don't understand is how the Blackhawk TCAS system was not screaming at them instructions that would have given them a evasive scenario to avoid the collision 30 seconds before impact...?
Not being a helicopter pilot I am not sure they have this tech...however, it's old tech and it seems that if anyone has it, the military would?
I fly corporate aircraft and every jet I have flown for the last at least 15 years has had a TCAS (Traffic Collision Alert System) and you can set it to TA only (Traffic Advisory only) or TA/RA (Traffic Advisory/Resolution Advisory) in which case the computer tells you exactly where to fly (up or down) in order to avoid the collision.
If you get a TA/RA alert, you are legally required to do what the computer instructs. In other words, if the computer pops up and tells you to climb, you have to pitch the aircraft up to exactly where your Attitude Indicator tells you to go. The Pitch Up indicator is Red during the evasive maneuver, but after the conflict is avoided, it turns Green...collision avoided.
In any case...makes no sense to me how this could have happened? I have had several TA/RA advisories over the years and it always worked perfectly, but the crew must have the system set up properly, be trained properly and do exactly what the computer tells them to do in the event they get the advisory...
I know from frightening personal experience that flying is NOT a normal human activity. You can get lost. You can get confused and you are indeed able to NOT see what's in front of you.
I'm waiting, but I fear this is yet another thing we'll never know the truth about. Like Butler. Oops something happened. Oh, look. Something shiney.
If and I mean IF this was an accident, the only thing I can come up with is that they may have been wearing NVG’s they cut your field of view by about 60%.
blackhawk was droned.
Not believable this was an accident. .
Remind anyone of Butler? Incompetence to disguise intent.
I consider this as plausible.
A lot of the propaganda cover-up squad has been saying it's so easy to lose planes in the city lights.
I don't buy it. IMO, those landing lights on the plane are way too big and bright to be mistaken for anything other than a landing plane, especially when you know you are literally crossing a landing approach flight path. Every single helicopter pilot that flies this route knows, without doubt, they are crossing a flight path with descending planes looking to land.
I spent 20+ years taking girls to Gravelly Point which is off the end of the runway at DCA on the northwest end. I've watched hundreds, if not 1000s of planes land right over my head at 100' at night. The landing lights are very bright and you can see planes coming in from a distance miles off - 5-7 minutes out.
Also, the direction AA5342 was approaching was from the south which does not have the lights of DC behind it. In fact, it's rather dark looking that direction as the Potomac opens up. It was completely clear that night.
In my opinion it would be nearly impossible not to see the landing lights of a plane approaching about 20-30 degrees off axis under those conditions.
Thank you for that thorough account. This newer video in this post makes the lights on the airplane look like ballpark lights coming in. They are super bright.
Even if the pilot had Night Vision Goggles (NVG) on, there were two other people that could notice the plane.
And just like we all know to look both ways before crossing the street, this is the exact same situation in flying terms. The helicopter pilot knew he was crossing the flight path of commercial airlines landing. For his own life, he would have looked both ways.
Hopefully, we get to hear the black box recordings so we at least get some understanding of what happened moments before impact.
I'm not sure if the pilot would have been wearing NODs. They would have them with them, but they will take your vision from 20/20 to 20/50 in terms of resolution making it hard to read the gauges, most importantly altitude and direction. Not to mention the noise pollution and the landing lights would be very rough on the eyes.
What was he doing at 350-400' when he was supposed to be under 200'?
I don't think Black Hawks have voice flight recorders. They may have a black box for telemetry.
There was nothing telling over the tower comms. No signs of distress. Aviate, navigate, communicate in that order. If you are communicating, it is assumed there are no other issues.
Also this just out (Fox):
1 hour(s) ago Family of third soldier killed requesting Army not release name The family of the third solider killed in Wednesday's deadly midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is requesting their identity not be publicly released, the Army said Friday.
The Army has named the other soldiers killed in the collision. They were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia.
Eaves' remains have not been recovered. He served in the Navy from August 2007 to September 2017 before transitioning to a Black Hawk pilot for the Army in September 2017.
O’Hara began serving as Black Hawk helicopter mechanic in July 2014.
Posted by Louis Casiano
Thank you for those additional details.
There are so many talking heads making up excuses for how this could happen, it sounds like a coverup.
NP. I will add that DCA is THE most difficult airport in the US to land in. Pilots flying i/o DCA routinely train on the simulator for all approaches and lift offs.
The number of near misses there is staggeringly high. I used to fly 100k mi/yr i/o of DCA. Once we were coming in on south approach (south to north) at about 200' @ 20 secs to wheels down when suddenly we pulled up sharp to the northwest. Everyone was surprised by the abruptness. We then went into a pattern I had never experienced over Alexandria and parts of Fairfax on a second approach. The guy across the aisle from me looked really pissed off. So I engaged him. Turns out he was the FAA tower manager at DCA. The second we hit the ground, he whips out his flip phone, makes a brief call and then slams his phone shut. He confirmed to me we almost landed on a plane that was about to start rolling for wheels up.
Wow! So why do they have a helicopter route that follows the Potomac that basically crosses the landing approach flight path? Can't the helicopters go further away from the runway, so if they are off by 100 feet in altitude it's no big deal? It seems so dicey.
My closest call was actually at cruising altitude over "flyover country." I don't recall feeling any evasive maneuvers, but I happened to be looking out the window and another airplane (Boeing or Airbus) crossed directly beneath us a couple hundred feet away. You could almost feel a jet wash it was so close. I've never seen that before and it took my breath away.
It's because the noise pollution rules include that the plane pull back at low altitude. And the runways are shorter. Reagan and san diego.
That is very strange. Was that the solder with the flad being put in an ambulance with the salute?
It was a new moon that night. Even with an approaching car, you can still tell if it's in your lane or not under those circumstances.
Those are dumbasses. If what they were saying is true then why in the fuck would a training sortie be ran in a high traffic area full of heavy civilian aircraft? Doubly so, a training sortie run by a pilot with, what was it, 500 hours? I still think gross negligence is on the table as a possibility but the more info that comes out the more it looks less accidental. This will be memory holed like Mandalay Bay soon.
You can see the river and the lights on the river bank very clearly on the approach and take off.
EDIT: More video
Related stories?
Lockheed Martin Executive Remotely Controls UH-60 Black Hawk from 300 Miles Away During Demo at AUSA Symposium
All the catastrophic mistakes that led to DC plane crash as it is revealed air traffic controller left tower early
must have passed out due to the vax. Or a brain aneurism to not see the plane.
We need a list of passengers on the AA flight...........
What I don't understand is how the Blackhawk TCAS system was not screaming at them instructions that would have given them a evasive scenario to avoid the collision 30 seconds before impact...?
Not being a helicopter pilot I am not sure they have this tech...however, it's old tech and it seems that if anyone has it, the military would?
I fly corporate aircraft and every jet I have flown for the last at least 15 years has had a TCAS (Traffic Collision Alert System) and you can set it to TA only (Traffic Advisory only) or TA/RA (Traffic Advisory/Resolution Advisory) in which case the computer tells you exactly where to fly (up or down) in order to avoid the collision.
If you get a TA/RA alert, you are legally required to do what the computer instructs. In other words, if the computer pops up and tells you to climb, you have to pitch the aircraft up to exactly where your Attitude Indicator tells you to go. The Pitch Up indicator is Red during the evasive maneuver, but after the conflict is avoided, it turns Green...collision avoided.
In any case...makes no sense to me how this could have happened? I have had several TA/RA advisories over the years and it always worked perfectly, but the crew must have the system set up properly, be trained properly and do exactly what the computer tells them to do in the event they get the advisory...
The helicopter looks fairly intact while the plane exploded and broke into parts.
I know from frightening personal experience that flying is NOT a normal human activity. You can get lost. You can get confused and you are indeed able to NOT see what's in front of you.
I'm waiting, but I fear this is yet another thing we'll never know the truth about. Like Butler. Oops something happened. Oh, look. Something shiney.
It's not.
Dei is how
If and I mean IF this was an accident, the only thing I can come up with is that they may have been wearing NVG’s they cut your field of view by about 60%.