Helicopter Crash in DC
-
God, how awful. Was it very windy last night? It was around here. Not sure whether that could have contributed
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 12:30 last edited by@Doctor-Phibes said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
God, how awful. Was it very windy last night? It was around here. Not sure whether that could have contributed
Yes.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 12:37 last edited by Jolly
Just an opinion...
Jets like the Bombardier don't have a lot of visibility looking down from the cockpit. The helicopter surely has a lot more total visibility. With all the lights of that urban setting at night and figuring in the short runways, I'm guessing Reagan is not an easy place to land at that time of the day.
Going forward, we're going to have to address helicopters and commercial jet traffic, and whether any helicopter visual separation is allowed by the tower (assuming the tower has the helicopter on radar).
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:26 last edited by
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:34 last edited by
-
God, how awful. Was it very windy last night? It was around here. Not sure whether that could have contributed
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:36 last edited by@Doctor-Phibes said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
God, how awful. Was it very windy last night? It was around here. Not sure whether that could have contributed
Yeah, what's worse (I guess) is they were approved and lined up for the main runway (Runway 1) but due to the wind the pilot asked to land on Runway 33 instead, which is not abnormal for CRJs at the airport. Fatal change.
If I were a betting man, I bet the pilot of the helicopter was looking either at the CRJ that just took off or a CRJ lined up for Runway 1 (which would've been straight in front of him) and didn't see (obviously) the CRJ lined up for Runway 33 which is about a 45 degree difference to his left as he was flying forward.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:41 last edited by
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:42 last edited by
And at least one of those on the Blackhawk was a trainee…
-
Just an opinion...
Jets like the Bombardier don't have a lot of visibility looking down from the cockpit. The helicopter surely has a lot more total visibility. With all the lights of that urban setting at night and figuring in the short runways, I'm guessing Reagan is not an easy place to land at that time of the day.
Going forward, we're going to have to address helicopters and commercial jet traffic, and whether any helicopter visual separation is allowed by the tower (assuming the tower has the helicopter on radar).
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:46 last edited by@Jolly said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
Just an opinion...
Jets like the Bombardier don't have a lot of visibility looking down from the cockpit. The helicopter surely has a lot more total visibility. With all the lights of that urban setting at night and figuring in the short runways, I'm guessing Reagan is not an easy place to land at that time of the day.
Going forward, we're going to have to address helicopters and commercial jet traffic, and whether any helicopter visual separation is allowed by the tower (assuming the tower has the helicopter on radar).
Yes the pilots were absolutely focused on the landing, since it's a shorter runway and windy. This is 100% the helicopter pilot's fault, a sad accident.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:47 last edited by
@George-K said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
As @Copper and @LuFins-Dad and others can attest, this is absolutely normal. Multiple, multiple times per day you'll see blackhawks and other helicopters going up and down the Potomac. Like, if you were playing golf at Hains Point you'll have a helicopter go over you within 30 minutes, guaranteed.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 13:50 last edited by
You know, if he spent 5 minutes on reddit he would've been better informed. SAD
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:01 last edited by
This shows the speeds of the two aircraft.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:12 last edited by
I wonder if all the lights of the city were a factor.
Is separation the standard warning word? -
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:14 last edited by
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.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:14 last edited by
@George-K said in Helicopter Crash in DC:
This shows the speeds of the two aircraft.
See the top middle of that image? That's the golf course I was talking about LOL
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:16 last edited by
For example, I took a video (screenshot above) last time I played golf there, of this flying overhead as I was trying to tee off!
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:33 last edited by 89th
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
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 14:35 last edited by
Forgive me if this was posted. WaPo reporting no survivors.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 15:17 last edited by
Did they have divers in the water last night? I thought that I heard that they didn’t. Just helicopters and boats.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 16:00 last edited by
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.
-
wrote on 30 Jan 2025, 16:06 last edited by
Nothing new that wasn't posted above, but somewhat of a longer clip for more context:
Link to video