Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please post links of the victims .. is there a list somewhere?

I haven't seen an list other than what the ice skating clubs have posted, plus the name of one of the pilots.

"American Eagle flight pilot was 28-year-old Sam Lilley"

Jeez, isn't that young for a pilot?

No. Not for a domestic flight. Also there are two pilots in every cockpit of a passenger airplane. These pilots have 1000s of hours. The AA pilots are exactly where they should be, seconds away from touchdown and there was nothing they could have done! The helicopter flew straight into their right rear behind the wing.

Maybe laying off a quarter of the government isn't a bright idea..

"Staffing was ‘not normal’ at airport tower, according to a preliminary F.A.A. report.
Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.

The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.

This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other.

Like most of the country’s air traffic control facilities, the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for years. The tower there was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30.

The shortage — caused by years of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.

The F.A.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Anonymous wrote:How will Trump’s statement about the cause/reason for the crash impact the investigation?

Will the investigation only look at DEI issues to prove Trump correct?

NTAB investigations take a long time (many months) but are not political. We will know everything that happened and what went wrong in the report - but it will take a very long time.

Anonymous wrote:This was such a sad and horrific event.

To bad people on here are taking advantage of the situation to gripe some more and continue their hateful diatribe. Sadly, you will feel no shame. Let’s let this be about those lost and those working at the site for at least 24 hours.

Right. Just like how after a mass shooting we are told it is too early to talk about gun control.

Thoughts and prayers, right?

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-washington-dc?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare#staffing-was-not-normal-at-airport-tower-according-to-a-preliminary-faa-report

Staffing was short last night at DCA

Not sure that is relevant. ATC saw both planes and communicated with them- no whether the right words were said, I don’t know, but present staff attempted to intervene.

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Anonymous wrote:If the helo was en route from Langley back to Ft. Belvoir, why did they follow the river at all? It's not remotely the most direct path, which would be over land.

Rivers are quieter but clearly they need a better plan for avoiding active DCA jet traffic.

I'm the PP you quoted. I saw a clip on youtube of an "expert" saying that military helicopters fly designated "lanes" or routes and the east edge of the potomac is one common route. However he also said if they helicopter was at 200 ft like it should have been, he would have missed the plane entirely as plans are not that low until they are much closer to the runway.

The projected flight of the helicopter would have taken it over the main runway at national. So the helicopter seems to be above 200 foot restriction and crossing the river from east to west(not the normal flight path)

That’s a mystery to me.

Wtf was the expected route of the black hawk?

Was it really going to cut across the entire river and DCA airport? Or did it just wander into the middle of the river at too high an altitude?

What was it supposed to be doing?!?

Apparently according to experts being interviewed on tv, the eastern edge of the Potomac river IS the designated route for helicopters and yes they would need to cross over at a designated point and with awareness of ATC. However as previously stated the Helo was too high. Required altitude is 200 ft and they were 400 ft.

Sorry, who said they need to cross over and to cross over at the DCA airline runway juncture?

They’re going 10 miles due south to fort belvoir and following the river the whole time. Less noisy.

An retired black hawk pilot on the news. The issue was not that the pilot crossed in the wrong location. It was that he/she crossed at the wrong time and did not cross behind the plane as directed and did not maintain visual separation as directed.

And as to the PP who asked why the Helo was on that side of the river at all, the same news "expert" said that the designated helo lane in that area is down the east edge of the river. So that is why they were on that side.

Anonymous wrote:How will Trump’s statement about the cause/reason for the crash impact the investigation?

Will the investigation only look at DEI issues to prove Trump correct?

Of course.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ATC direction is supposed to be more precise. “Traffic 12 o’clock 2 miles a CRJ. Report in sight and maintain visual separation”. Not “hey bro you see a plane anywhere?”

Probably cause likely will be helo pilot not maintaining separation but I fully expect ATC to be listed as contributing. The insane piece is the tower probably only had 2 controllers (for tower ops. Arrival/departure had a couple more). It’s 2025 and the human factor needs to be removed.

Part of the issue is that the Helo and the the planes are not on the same frequency. So ATC can hear both, but the helo can only hear what ATC says to them and the plane can only hear what ATC is saying to them and other planes. The Helo doesn't hear ATC tell the plane to line up for runway 33. And the plane doesn't hear ATC ask the Helo if it can see the plane and to go behind.

They told the helicopter the plane was heading for runway 33 specifically more than a minute before the crash. Then asked for confirmation.

Yes that is at the beginning of the video, when they are quite a distance away

No need for 3 way channels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NYT reporting two helicopter pilots: one male, one female.

Helo pilot was a black woman. This will get interesting.

I bet if you look at the vast majority of aviation accidents you will find that men were responsible, lol.

By "interesting", I assume you enjoy reading stories about mistakes made by "others" and firestorms of slander. That reflects poorly on you.

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Anonymous wrote:I just heard the pilot of the helicopter was a woman. Trump, Hegseth and MAGA are getting ready to ramp up their “I Told You So” tour.

You heard from Fox or maybe one of the MAGA nuts?

It is clearly a male voice from the radio.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r90Xw3tQC0I

Couldn't the person talking not have been the one flying the helicopter? There were three soldiers on the helicopter. This makes sense with Trump's DEI statements. Hegseth said in his statement that they know the identities of the soldiers on board. And, of course, this would play perfectly into Hegseth's claims that the military has gone to shit under Biden because it's no longer the best and brightest being promoted, etc., it's all based on DEI. He also claims that, under Biden, there's not enough time for military training in the field, etc. because they all had to constantly do DEI, sexual assault, etc. training. I REALLY hope the PP is wrong that the pilot of the helicopter was a woman, but I'm afraid that may be the case.

Do you not Nazi how you are playing directly into Nazi rhetoric?

Trump filled the government with grossly unqualified insane people, and you "REALLY hope" non-WhiteMen don't exist, because any one that does exist will be blamed for anything that goes wrong?

THIS IS HOW GENOCIDES LAUNCH

Um, no I'm not. You are not very good at reading comprehension. I hope it wasn't a woman flying the helicopter because Trump and Hegseth will point to that as "evidence" that women and other DEI candidates in the military shouldn't be there. I don't agree with that, but that's how they will twist that fact to further their agenda. Do you understand now?

So any time a woman screws up something (50% of the population) or a POC screws up (40%+ of the population) it's automatically because of "DEI"?

What a logical fallacy.

Does anyone know who was piloting the F35 that stalled out last weekend in Alaska? Was it a DEI pilot?
https://apnews.com/article/f35-air-force-jet-crashes-alaska-b85f19849361ddb3882cdc551f5d0f1d

Women do not make up 50% of military helicopter pilots or anywhere even close to that. But, in any event, as a PP explained, there's a perception that the standards for flying/ATC have been lowered for women/non-white folks and that this has made flying less safe. Again, I am not saying this is true, but it's the claim of Trump/Hegseth + supporters. I'm not sure why you keep getting so angry when I've made clear I don't agree with this claim. It's not my argument, it's Hegseth's. So get mad at him.

Simple.

Pull the qualifications, experience and training from pilots 15-20 years ago and compare them to the last 0-7 years ago.

Who are we putting in the cockpit nowadays?

Hopefully someone based on merit who went to an academy, earned Squad Com by senior year, had fantastic flight training, passed with flying colors, has good maintenance training and hours, and is smart, ethical and moral.

Release their resume.

How will Trump’s statement about the cause/reason for the crash impact the investigation?

Will the investigation only look at DEI issues to prove Trump correct?

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-washington-dc?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare#staffing-was-not-normal-at-airport-tower-according-to-a-preliminary-faa-report

Staffing was short last night at DCA

Anonymous wrote:NYT reporting two helicopter pilots: one male, one female.

And zero nav instrument flying skills or line of sight skills.

The helicopter pilot was clearly at fault here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NYT reporting two helicopter pilots: one male, one female.

Helo pilot was a black woman. This will get interesting.

Oh no. Source?