Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Absolutely baffling.

Even if the theory that the helicopter though ATC was referring to a different airplane is true, that is inexplicable. By the time they collide, the helicopter is perpendicular to the airplane, rendering the issues with spotting a plane that is dead on irrelevant. The Black Hawk is capable of heroic maneuvers in that situation, it is a very agile aircraft. But we don't see the helicopter slow up or move at all to evade the airplane. It just plows right into it.

I am more confused than ever.

Me again.

Also it appears the helicopter is actually coming down in altitude at the moment of impact, but we know from the radar that they'd climbed up in altitude shortly before this. If they'd continued their original trajectory of climb, they might have gone over the aircraft as it descended. Potentially the plane also adjusted altitude at the last minute, that's harder to see on these videos because you are looking at the plane head on from the runway. But wow does it really look like the helicopter noses down straight into the plane.

Gin up the lawyers

Gin up the lasts and pilot mental health assessments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Unbelievable

These new video camera angles plus the data o t he last second altitude rise from 200 to 350 and right turn to middle of the river are VERY SUSPICIOUS.

We need to know if the training pilot at the controls had their head on straight or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Absolutely baffling.

Even if the theory that the helicopter though ATC was referring to a different airplane is true, that is inexplicable. By the time they collide, the helicopter is perpendicular to the airplane, rendering the issues with spotting a plane that is dead on irrelevant. The Black Hawk is capable of heroic maneuvers in that situation, it is a very agile aircraft. But we don't see the helicopter slow up or move at all to evade the airplane. It just plows right into it.

I am more confused than ever.

Yeah…I have no word. How can you possibly explain this?

Anonymous wrote:

Absolutely baffling.

Even if the theory that the helicopter though ATC was referring to a different airplane is true, that is inexplicable. By the time they collide, the helicopter is perpendicular to the airplane, rendering the issues with spotting a plane that is dead on irrelevant. The Black Hawk is capable of heroic maneuvers in that situation, it is a very agile aircraft. But we don't see the helicopter slow up or move at all to evade the airplane. It just plows right into it.

I am more confused than ever.

Anonymous wrote:

Unbelievable

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump isn’t to blame, Biden isn’t to blame. Neither is ATC. They followed protocol, even if short staffed, they still did exactly what they should have done. I don’t see how the finger can be pointed anywhere other than directly at the helicopter at this point.

It can absolutely be pointed at the powers that be that allowed the ATC towers to be half staffed; those that have pressed for DCA to be so overloaded with flights; and the military geniuses that decided that the busiest hour at DCA is the time to do night training exercises that cross the flight path (rather than waiting until midnight when there are no flights).

Stop

Get the data on how many times a week they are reprimanding Black hawks or other river riding helicopters that their altitude is too high.

And then why. Why are 50%, 89% of all helicopters going over 250’?

Incompetence? Aircraft can’t handle it? Pilot not experienced enough? They want to see the views better?

You’re black hawk!?? Your purpose and design was to be low to the ground or water, zero lights on, st night and undetectable!

Why so scared to fly at 200 feet and hold steady? You’re actually failing your exercise and training if you’re wandering to 350. Enemy will see you. And to blindly go up to 350 right by an active landing strip? Yikes.

This. I mentioned this upthread but the BH made two maneuvers that led to the collision -- they veered west toward the middle of the river and they came up in altitude to 350. And they did both of these things at the worst possible moment *even if* they couldn't see the plane -- they did this just as they were passing both runway 33 and runway 1.

I know why helicopters creep into the middle of the river through that corridor even though the set route explicitly has them on the eastern shore -- it is much more comfortable to fly a helicopter down the middle of a waterway. You stay away from the trees and other potential obstruction like power lines, you have better visibility, it looks cool.

But I don't understand why it was so common for helicopters to go above 200ft through that corridor, especially when they obviously know the reason they are supposed to stay low is to avoid plane traffic. There's no reason specific to helicopters for that -- generally helicopters (not just BHs) are designed for low flight and pilots are very accustomed to doing it.

The only reason I can think of is that helicopters might like to creep up to get the view of the mall, and show it off to passengers (especially VIPs they might want to impress). Which sucks and might explain why helos so often fly above the prescribed altitude through there. But it actually does not explain what happened in this incident because this helicopter stayed at or near 200 for the part of the route that would give you a good view of the mall and only moved up to 350ft right before the collision, as they were approaching the sought side of National. So even if "enjoying the view" is one reason for helicopters to commonly be above altitude there (stupid, should be addressed if its the case), it's very unlikely to be the case in this situation.

Anonymous wrote:Why don't the helicopters stay under 200 feet? Is there a reason they would rather fly higher? I don't get it.

I have not seen one reporter mention the VIP aspect of the flight. Very lackadaisical reporting. Where's that reporter from the Fairfax Times?

I dunno.

But after their failure to hold at 200 ft for the 3 minutes it needed to on the Potomac I wouldn’t be sending these guys abroad to fly anywhere.

Anonymous wrote:Does the route between Langley to Belvoir ever have them follow 495 to 95? Or do they always go up the Potomac?

The direction they were going was not toward Ft. Belvoir if I’m not mistaken or are the dash cam and Kennedy cameras reversed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The trans pilot who was rumored to have been flying the helicopter is alive and well and has issued a brief video statement.

This conspiracy theory was of course just concocted by MAGA trolls.

Everyone who participating in spreading this rumor and traumatizing this person and their family should take a long, hard look in the mirror and decide what kind of person they want to be moving forward.

I really hope there is a hell.

Wait, I missed this. The rumor is the third pilot is trans?

Someone spread that. There is a trans pilot, however she was not a part of this flight.

This is also part of the MO for certain people after tragedies. Rumors start that somehow a trans person is to blame.

Yes someone came on this very thread posting that nonsense dozens of times and Jeff repeatedly deleted.

I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that they aren't back to apologize for their hateful lies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the problems is that the FAA makes most of the flights land from the South even when winds are from the south. They think they can increase capacity because of the two runways there, but it gets so busy that it is dangerous. So many people asked the FAA why they insist on landing from the south most of the time and this is what the FAA put out:

https://www.flyreagan.com/sites/flyreagan.com/files/legacyfiles/2019_09_18_-_operational_advantages_of_a_north_configuration_at_dca_dlh.pdf

Omg stop.

You land INTO the wind, for control purposes.
And you takeoff WITH the wind.

So runway direction uses changes based on the wind.

In fact the runways were out in place given main wind patterns of the immediate area and climate.

They should be landing into the wind but often when the winds from the south are light, they still land them from the south. You can easily check that. They also land them from the south in east and west winds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump isn’t to blame, Biden isn’t to blame. Neither is ATC. They followed protocol, even if short staffed, they still did exactly what they should have done. I don’t see how the finger can be pointed anywhere other than directly at the helicopter at this point.

It can absolutely be pointed at the powers that be that allowed the ATC towers to be half staffed; those that have pressed for DCA to be so overloaded with flights; and the military geniuses that decided that the busiest hour at DCA is the time to do night training exercises that cross the flight path (rather than waiting until midnight when there are no flights).

Stop

Get the data on how many times a week they are reprimanding Black hawks or other river riding helicopters that their altitude is too high.

And then why. Why are 50%, 89% of all helicopters going over 250’?

Incompetence? Aircraft can’t handle it? Pilot not experienced enough? They want to see the views better?

You’re black hawk!?? Your purpose and design was to be low to the ground or water, zero lights on, st night and undetectable!

Why so scared to fly at 200 feet and hold steady? You’re actually failing your exercise and training if you’re wandering to 350. Enemy will see you. And to blindly go up to 350 right by an active landing strip? Yikes.

The DOD has not released the names of any of the 3 individuals who were on the helicopter. The public knows the names of 2 because their families have posted on social media.

The military is not hiding the name of the third person.