541–550 of 738 posts
I was a controller at DCA for 8 years and this is a normal operation with Helicopters using the Helicopter routes. The problem I see is the controller asked the Helicopter if they had the CRJ in sight, but he never said WHERE HE WAS OR WHAT HE WAS DOING! The controller should have told the Helicopter that the CRJ was circling to RWY 33. The helicopter said he had him in sight, but he really had the Jet in sight that…
Why is a Blackhawk helicopter Performing a “training flight” at night very close to DCA?
These helicopters are always going up and down the Potomac all the time.
To put this in perspective, this is the first fatal crash of a US commercial airliner in 16 years (Colgan Air Flight 3407 on February 12, 2009) and the first fatal commercial airliner crash in the United States in 12 years (since Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on July 6, 2013). We like to throw shade at Boeing, the FAA etc, but this is still an incredible accomplishment, especially given the explosive growth of traffic o…
Can you clarify the difference between these? > first fatal crash of a US commercial airliner > first fatal commercial airliner crash in the United States Is it that the 2009 crash was a US-manufactured plane while the 2013 crash was not manufactured in the US but happened in the US?
If anyone needs a palate cleanser after listening to a depressing ATC recording, I can recommend this heartwarming first time solo flying teenager dealing with her landing gear coming off after takeoff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5q7Iv5wTM
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It is so incredibly tiring that you dweebs try to blame every single bad outcome in the world on cough minorities cough "DEI", with zero evidence. In fact, literally when you posted this comment there were already ATC recordings floating around of the controller telling the helicopter pilot to maintain separation from the exact airliner they crashed into. Take a look in the mirror.
There are some good replies so I I'm not going to delete my (now obviously) poorly written comment.
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The fact that a strike can be illegal is, in and of itself, an erosion of worker rights.
unpopular opinion - but public workers should not be able to go on strike, and in fact shouldn't even be allowed to unionize. it's antithetical to democracy. they should simply run for office and change things, not hold taxpayers' services hostage. unions make sense for private organizations because private organizations are effectively authoritarian entities, not democracies. there is no mechanism in which you could…
That "simply" is doing an absurd amount of heavy lifting.
I just listened to the ATC recording from immediately before the collision. ATC instructs the helicopter to pass behind the CRJ. I’m fairly certain a few minutes before that, ATC instructed the helicopter to maintain visual separation, which is common. They typically ask, “do you have the aircraft in sight” and if you respond in the affirmative they rely on you to maintain safe distance. I should mention that in the…
In the video from the webcam there's another plane which is much easier to see. Could they have asked about "the aircraft" and the helicopter pilot mistook which one they referred to? "yes I can see the plane flying much higher"
One has radars even on recreational boats. That was a military helicopter. At night. It would be hard to believe that it doesn't have nor radar nor IR cameras, and the plane would be lightened up like X-mas tree in both.
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I've been avoiding the typical outrageous statements from the current POTUS for many years, but his comments at his press conference today, about how DEI hiring could be responsible for this accident, are just unbelievable. And all of a sudden it seems to have made him to decide that the FAA needs a director today.
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I've been avoiding the typical outrageous statements from the current POTUS for many years, but his comments at his press conference today, about how DEI hiring could be responsible for this accident, are just unbelievable. And all of a sudden it seems to have made him to decide that the FAA needs a director today.
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What reports, specifically?
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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.
On "Truth Social" last night, Donald Trump was explicitly questioning the actions of the ATC. And during this morning's press briefing, he blamed "the crash on Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, DEI and people with disabilities." I'm waiting for the transcript on that one.
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President Trump also appeared to blame a “diversity push” at the FAA for the midair collision, reading some news headlines.
“I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office. And here’s one: the FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities,” Trump said.
When he was asked to clarify why he thought a diversity push played a role, he said, “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a higher, much higher standard than anybody else.”
Trump did not cite any evidence.
He also placed blame on the Biden administration’s transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, using an expletive to describe Buttigieg’s time in office.
“He’s a disaster now. He’s just got a good line of bulls—,” Trump said of Buttigieg. “Well, he runs it, 45,000 people, and he’s run it right into the ground with his diversity.”
Trump’s pick for transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, who just started the job, also spoke during the press conference.
“When Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination — that didn’t happen yesterday,” Duffy said. “That’s not acceptable, and so we will not accept excuses. We will not accept passing the buck.”