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Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

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Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#471

Post by throw0101c »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #453
consp wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> over noisy radio I've been told the noise on the recordings is always a lot worse than in practice due to the location of the recording antenna not being ideal. I have no idea if this is correct or not. Maybe someone can enlighten this.

I watch a lot of pilots on Youtube. Most of them use some kind of audio splitter to record sound. You hear what the pilot hears. But minus the plane noise, vibrations, etc (unless that's mixed in via some open microphone). So, it's actually better. So, it really is that bad. Especially when flying low, on the edge of the range of the radios, etc. VHF radio is ancient technology. It's not great even under ideal condit…

> A lot of radio exchanges are routine exchanges that involve very basic information: call signs, transponder codes, codes for approaches/departures, courses, altimeter settings, altitudes, weather information, etc.

They are also in a fairly standardized format with reserved "keywords" for many important aspects of operation ("hold short", "line up and wait", "cleared to X"):

* https://skybrary.aero/sites/default/files/bookshelf/115.pdf

English is the lingua franca of ATC, but it is recognized it is obviously not everyone's first language.

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#472

Post by alistairSH »

wat10000 wrote: post #457
alistairSH wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 he…

DCA is much nicer in pretty much all respects other than having a fairly restricted set of routes. When the routes are available, I’ll pick DCA every time. It’s a gem, and I’m glad that Congress’ selfishness overrode their terrorism paranoia on this one.

That's true, DCA is smaller footprint, so easier to navigate inside. And even better now that the remote terminal redone and linked properly (vs the old "Take a bus and wait on a bench").

But, the last few years, I haven't had any issues at IAD. Yeah, it takes longer to get from the front door to the gate, but that's about it. The security lines are more reasonable now (pre-COVID they were pretty long at times).

I pick IAD when I can, but that's only because I live in Reston. If I lived inside the Beltway, I'd pick DCA, but only because of the shorter drive, not the airport experience itself.

And I wouldn't want DCA to be shuttered. But, it's been at capacity for a while and Congress keeps pushing that limit.

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#473

Post by recursive »

bayarearefugee wrote: post #469
deadbabe wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The controller will not take blame. It is a blameless culture where mistakes are expected and analyzed and learned from.

[flagged]

Where did that come from? There are some things in life that don't revolve around identity politics, and I'd venture to say, ATC is one of them.

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#474

Post by naasking »

beedeebeedee wrote: post #449
naasking wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> I have no stake here I don't want to sound flippant, but if you have no familiarity with a system and what it does, then you won't be able to make any useful judgments about it. This new administration has made it clear that they do not know the function of these agencies but have decided to destroy their structures. As a concerned bystander who has some knowledge and stake in them continuing to function, it is dee…

That's a totally reasonable opinion, I'm just pointing out that "professional and dedicated" workers being concerned is not evidence of anything because it has many possible interpretations. Only if you've already bought into a particular system being well designed and justified does it necessarily entail something negative.

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#476

Post by jjtheblunt »

cranky908canuck wrote: post #239
sarcasmatwork wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Ronald Reagan?

wasn't the situation then that the air traffic controllers walked off on strike, so new replacements had to be made to keep planes flying, which was realized by firings? (i was pretty young then, but that's what i remember reading)

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#477

Post by deeg »

recursive wrote: post #473
bayarearefugee wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Where did that come from? There are some things in life that don't revolve around identity politics, and I'd venture to say, ATC is one of them.

Parent is exactly right. There's already a scramble to pin the blame and some in the GOP are looking for DEI: https://bsky.app/profile/andylevy.net/post/3lgxsd35fhs2i

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#478

Post by throw0101c »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #144
stall84 wrote: post #62

In 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,…

[flagged]

> The reformed federal workforce will be built around four pillars:

[…]

> 4. Enhanced standards of conduct: The federal workforce should be comprised of employees who are reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and who strive for excellence in their daily work. Employees will be subject to enhanced standards of suitability and conduct as we move forward. Employees who engage in unlawful behavior or other misconduct will be prioritized for appropriate investigation and discipline, including termination.

[…]

> Upon review of the below deferred resignation letter, if you wish to resign: 1) Select “Reply” to this email. You must reply from your government account. A reply from an account other than your .gov or .mil account will not be accepted. 2) Type the word “Resign” into the body of this reply email. Hit “Send”.

* https://www.opm.gov/fork

Re: Commercial jet collides with Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan airport

#479

Post by bayarearefugee »

recursive wrote: post #473
bayarearefugee wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Where did that come from? There are some things in life that don't revolve around identity politics, and I'd venture to say, ATC is one of them.

> There are some things in life that don't revolve around identity politics

Not anymore.

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