AV Herald has a great summary and discussion:
https://avherald.com/h?article=52374362&opt=0
Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
411–420 of 738 posts
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#412Obviously it will take some time for the full accident analysis but there have been quite a few near misses lately due to air traffic controller errors. Flight volume has been growing, airspace near airports is more congested, and controllers are overworked. Eventually all of the "Swiss cheese" holes line up. We're going to need to hire more controllers. Also, it appears that one of the aircraft was a military (not p…
I believe this happened in DC SFRA, which is a 30-mile radius specially controlled airspace due to the level of traffic and national security interests.
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#413Earlier quoted context omitted.
This Waco? --- PBS: > Rumors about Koresh's sexual practices with girls persisted for years prior to the ATF raid. > Koresh acknowledged on a videotape sent out of the compound during the standoff that he had fathered more than 12 children by several "wives" who were as young as 12 or 13 when they became pregnant. --- Seattle Times: > Children who left the Branch Davidian cult compound said David Koresh gave girls as…
The ATF was raiding for their purview, firearms/explosives. As for the fires, they happened after incendiary tear gas was deployed by the government. They also sent a tank like vehicle to destroy the building. That's not overruled by some sketchy milk carton audio of who knows who.
> The ATF was raiding for their purview, firearms/explosives.
Well not really. That's what they had warrants for. Obviously they knew about and didn't like the whole child sex slavery thing.
> As for the fires, they happened [six hours] after incendiary tear gas was deployed by the government... That's not overruled by some sketchy milk carton audio of [militant religious nutjobs inside the compound talking about spreading fuel throughout the compound]
Idk
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
This Waco? --- PBS: > Rumors about Koresh's sexual practices with girls persisted for years prior to the ATF raid. > Koresh acknowledged on a videotape sent out of the compound during the standoff that he had fathered more than 12 children by several "wives" who were as young as 12 or 13 when they became pregnant. --- Seattle Times: > Children who left the Branch Davidian cult compound said David Koresh gave girls as…
I think it's more about the fact that the feds could have easily taken Koresh into custody when he left the compound to run errands. Instead they chose to send a message and it ended in tragedy.
It seems to me ATF didn't really know he left the compound regularly. Which is, of course, a huge error, but a different one than the one you're alleging.
And at the end of they day they'd have to raid the compound anyway. There were plenty of other militant nutjobs there to turn it into the catastrophe it became regardless, IMO.
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#415Earlier quoted context omitted.
From what I've heard, it's a challenging airport to land at, particularly because one of the approaches has two sharp turns in it, and I think the main winds tend to be annoying crosswinds for the main runway. Also, the airport is surrounded by lots of restricted airspace because, you know, seat of federal government and all that.
Short runway too. 9/11 restrictions only made it that much worse. It was discussed post 9/11 about closing National Airport, but congress wouldn't hear it. It was too convenient from DC. (At a time when IAD was way the hell out there, rather than being 1/2 the way out the sprawl.) I won't fly through DCA in the winter, because when I was a kid there was the Air Florida crash. I'd much prefer IAD with it's 3 mile runw…
The Air Florida crash had very little to do with the airport and a lot to do with the pilots who took off with dangerous amounts of ice/snow on the wings. Fortunately, de-icing procedures have also improved since then - in the 80s, it was possible to have a long time between deicing and takeoff; today, deicing is done at the end of the runway, shortly before lining up for takeoff.
Full story: https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/the-cold-laws-of-winter-...
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#416Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the inconveniences that you and I have to endure. What are those? With pre check you just more or less walk through and use a metal detector.
A lot of people here like to go on about security. I agree there's a certain amount of theater, and I try to avoid really peak times, but with pre-check I do tend to arrive early because I don't want stress but, as you say, it's rarely more than a few minute wait and I pretty much toss my bag on the carousel and walk through the metal detector. It's really not a big deal if you're prepared.
What's pre-check?
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#417Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because I live here.
I also live here but that doesn’t give me crystal ball-like insight into what every single fed and fed-adjacent employee is feeling. It’s a fairly big city! Do you work in the federal space? I have acquaintances who do and their mood doesn’t quite match the hysteria you see on e.g. the regional subreddits.
Damn near every one I know is either worried about being fired OR is unclear on what their agency should be doing in light of the flurry of ambiguous EOs from Trump. The best case seems to be "my office is clusterfuck, but I'm a contractor in SCIF, so I guess I'm ok for now."
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
> everyone is expecting to be fired regardless of their experience and skill. How do you know this?
Presumably because Trump just offered an 8month severance package to all fed workers. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnvqe3le3z4o > US President Donald Trump has offered federal workers the option to resign and receive pay for eight months, in a major effort to shrink and reform the US government.
It's not even a buyout. They have to work for those 8 months; it's not a severance package.
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reagan fired the ATCs when they tried to assert their rights - can't be good if they think they may be the next in line for DOGEing.
> when they tried to assert their rights That's an interesting way of phrasing going on an illegal strike which they agreed not to do as part of their employment contract.
The fact that a strike can be illegal is, in and of itself, an erosion of worker rights.
Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport
#420In any event, unless the weather was IMC, where neither aircraft can see because of weather/cloud, which I'm deducing is not the case if they were allowed to maintain visual separation, the ultimate responsibility for maintaining separation is with the pilot(s) .. But as I posted, we should not have this happen anywhere in the United States in 2025 & much less the nation's capital. Hopefully DOT and FAA get to work,…
Weather was fine tonight. Also DCA is the most popular airport and congress would stage their own revolution if they had to go further.
Yeah, it's at least partially Congress's fault DCA is as busy as it is. Every few years, they push to allow more flights, and longer flights, into the airport, because they all want to convenience.
Which is silly, it's not like IAD is all that far away. It's a straight shot down the Access Road to 66 and then into the city. Of course, with the RTO mandate, the portion from 66 inward is going to get busy again, but hey, Congress wanted that too, so reap what they sow, I suppose.