You have no idea what happened. Stop speculating. |
A lot of those claims don't make any sense when you look at where the planes were. Some looked at the videos of the crash and said the helo pilots may have been looking at the departing flight. The timing of that doesn't make sense. The helo said they had eyes on the plane before the departing flight took off. Others said they may have been looking at the next plane on approach. But that was 4 miles away. And even if they did make that mistake, they were still told to wait and cross behind that plane, which they obviously didn't do. |
![]() ![]() Unless they were fooling around inside of the helicopter, not looking ahead or up or down, how on earth did not one person see the plane in front of them? Helicopters are agile, the plane was blinking. |
Yes it appears that if the helicopter had stayed down at 200 ft, it would have been a close call but likely not a collision. Also according to radar the helicopter moved to the west before the collision, which is significant because they received directions from ATC to go behind the landing aircraft, which would necessitate either holding up and waiting for the airplane to pass, or moving east. I don't really get all the second guessing of the ATC's actions at this point because we hear the ATC warn the helicopter multiple times of the plane and give directions to go behind. Even if the helicopter had eyes on the wrong plane, the multiple warnings and direction should have alerted the helicopter to the nearness of the plane. According to the Washington Post, there were 12 seconds between ATCs second warning to the helicopter of the plane in its path and the collision. That is enough time for the helicopter to take evasive action. ATC did what they could. They are not flying these aircraft. All they can do is provide information and direction. |
That won’t stop the ODD Karens from speculating. |
We certainly know that much. The CJR was coming in for a landing and the helo flew into their flight path when they were supposed to wait. |
There is no speculation, it’s obvious the AA plane wasn’t acting abnormally or flying erratically. |
NVGs. Urban lighting. It’s possible. |
I think a lot of pilots and aviation experts are horrified by this incident and reaching for this explanation because it absolves the helicopter pilots of blame. I understand this instinct but it looks increasingly incorrect the more we know. The timing of the collision, the number of warnings to the helicopter, and the helicopter's maneuvers prior to collision all point in another direction. I believe the helicopter pilots did not see the plane before hitting it, but I don't think it's because they were looking at a plane further down the river. I think they lost sight of the plane at the last minute and either got confused or made a flying error, or both. |
You don’t know “It’s like being stopped at a red light and getting t-boned.” You don’t know what it was like. You don’t have all of the facts/evidence. You aren’t an experienced investigator. You are just an internet rando spewing BS. |
Maybe, but they didn't go behind *any* plane. Even if they were looking at the wrong plane, they still disobeyed ATC commands. |
Those pilots are wearing NVG and image 1 is from the actual army website. This is NVG no moon night and I’m not an expert but can see between land and sky. ![]() |
No, you aren’t entitled to anything. Chill TF out. |
Well, seeing as how AA was holding got landing when they got hit, sure seems like it was. |
I love how some idiot sees a photo online and is now an expert in complicated technology and understands the situation fully. Newsflash: you are clueless and speculating. It helps no one. |