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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The two startling and unexplained things were that there was only one controller in the tower (and no one will say why) and the female helicopter pilot flew straight toward the plane.

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They’re not unexplained. The one controller thing was not unusual. They’re stretched and people get sick etc. It’s not the level they’re aiming for, but it is (or was) considered okay and approved.

She flew toward the plane because neither one saw it. Whatever that last comment was from the instructor, it wasn’t someone who knew they were about to hit a plane.

This happened because the military takes a lot of risks. The airlines are going for zero fatalities and on time performance. The military is going for war readiness, or whatever. Zero fatalities is not their top priority. The pilots are inexperienced relative to airline pilots, and the safety rules are fewer and loosely enforced. [/quote]

Here is what the article said about ATC staffing that night. It IS unexplained. I still mostly blame the Helo, but you can’t ignore this (bold by me):

“But after a co-worker left the control hub at 3:40 p.m., some controllers began to assume combined duties. [b]The controller who ended up directing the Black Hawk took over combined duties at roughly 7 p.m., according to the government document. [/b]An N.T.S.B. spokesman declined to confirm how long the controller operated in both roles.

Such a combination was not unusual, and was approved that evening by a tower supervisor, according to a person briefed on the staffing. [b]But the roles were not typically combined until traffic slowed many hours later, around 9:30 p.m.[/b]

[b]Though the reasons why the supervisor combined the duties so early are still not clear, the F.A.A. would later say in an internal report that staffing was “not normal” that evening.“[/b]
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