Helicopter Crash in DC
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Separation is common between a pilot and the tower to indicate they should (maintain) visual separation. Kind of an obvious command, but for choppers in the area it's not really possible to control their heading and altitude the way they can with planes coming in for a landing.
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Not sure, but is that the blackhawk sitting on top of the airplane? I wonder if it struck the airplane directly on the nose.
Larger pic: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1idgd3d/photo_of_american_airlines_5342/#lightbox
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Did they have divers in the water last night? I thought that I heard that they didn’t. Just helicopters and boats.
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I thought I heard last night they had 4 divers in the water. Who knows. I'd imagine the back half of the plane was submerged under water with people still buckled in, it happened so fast. About 5 seconds from sudden explosion/collision before the (split) plane was in the water and sinking.
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Nothing new that wasn't posted above, but somewhat of a longer clip for more context:
Link to video -
I think there were at least 4 divers on the scene at around 10 PM.
My first instinct is to blame the Army pilot, but I guess mechanical failure is possible.
On a training mission I would expect the instructor to put a little extra stress on the student. I believe the sec def said this was recurrent training, meaning it was not initial training, if so, the trainee had done this kind of flying before and was possibly an experienced pilot.
If either the instructor or the trainee was a gay black guy, the DEI movement is dead, now and forever.
They (Trump and Sec Def) are already making anti-DEI noise, saying only the best and the brightest will be ATC or pilots, no DEI hires here.
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Hegseth said it was a routine nightime training flight. The way he talked, it was the kind of flight routinely flown to keep up skill levels, not to train a newer pilot how to do something. The Army already has investigators on site and they are working with the FAA.
Trump said in the presser that the A A pilot had done nothing wrong. Trump said he did not know if the air traffic controllers had done anything wrong, but that the Biden era DEI policies for that job are no longer in effect. He also said they were looking into whether the numbers of ATC were adequate.
Duffy said that the investigation is under way and answers will be swift in forthcoming and will be made public.
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I'll be surprised if more information is ever found out as it seems pretty clear the helo pilot was looking at the wrong CRJ and didn't see the doomed plane out his left window (since runway 33 is used far less often) until it broadsided him. Maybe there is cockpit audio they can recover?
Trump needs to learn when to stop talking about things he doesn't know, but I think that ship has sailed.
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Case in point, Trump blaming the FAA's DEI policy that was in place since 2013 (not sure Trump knew that when he made his claims), the reporter asked why Trump didn't do anything about it when he was President the first time, Trump deflects and dodges lol...
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It's quite sad how quickly they've switched to politics and blame when so many have died.
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Very. I actually texted my buddies last night that I figured the spin this morning would be about remote federal workers (e.g., NTSB, FAA) but I guess I was wrong, apparently it was DEI policies (even though the tower and both pilots were white males, as far as I know).
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I'll be surprised if more information is ever found out as it seems pretty clear the helo pilot was looking at the wrong CRJ and didn't see the doomed plane out his left window (since runway 33 is used far less often) until it broadsided him. Maybe there is cockpit audio they can recover?
Trump needs to learn when to stop talking about things he doesn't know, but I think that ship has sailed.
@89th said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
I'll be surprised if more information is ever found out as it seems pretty clear the helo pilot was looking at the wrong CRJ and didn't see the doomed plane out his left window (since runway 33 is used far less often) until it broadsided him. Maybe there is cockpit audio they can recover?
Trump needs to learn when to stop talking about things he doesn't know, but I think that ship has sailed.
Trump is Trump.
After the last four years of being lied to, not talked to at all and a staff that covered up the shortcomings of a doddering old fool, like a cat covering up shit, a bit too much talking is like a refreshing breeze on a hot day.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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Yes, it is too soon to say what happened, most of the speculation seems reasonable, but there could have been some kind of mechanical failure.
The idea that the army pilots could just fly into the jet is so stupid and such a big obvious mistake it seems like there must be some other contributing factors.
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@89th said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
I'll be surprised if more information is ever found out as it seems pretty clear the helo pilot was looking at the wrong CRJ and didn't see the doomed plane out his left window (since runway 33 is used far less often) until it broadsided him. Maybe there is cockpit audio they can recover?
Trump needs to learn when to stop talking about things he doesn't know, but I think that ship has sailed.
Trump is Trump.
After the last four years of being lied to, not talked to at all and a staff that covered up the shortcomings of a doddering old fool, like a cat covering up shit, a bit too much talking is like a refreshing breeze on a hot day.
@Jolly said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
@89th said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
I'll be surprised if more information is ever found out as it seems pretty clear the helo pilot was looking at the wrong CRJ and didn't see the doomed plane out his left window (since runway 33 is used far less often) until it broadsided him. Maybe there is cockpit audio they can recover?
Trump needs to learn when to stop talking about things he doesn't know, but I think that ship has sailed.
Trump is Trump.
After the last four years of being lied to, not talked to at all and a staff that covered up the shortcomings of a doddering old fool, like a cat covering up shit, a bit too much talking is like a refreshing breeze on a hot day.
Fair enough, I did mention before that I am enjoying many of the EOs coming out and getting shit done. That being said, being lied to...are you referring to Biden (count TBD) or Trump (30,573 in Trump's first term)? Being quite and wrong is just as bad as being loud and wrong. Why can't we just have an honest adult in the room?
I wonder if all the lights of the city were a factor.
