DC Plane Crash

[teeceetx]

My initial impression is that ATC did not do their job properly.

There seems to have been little to no EARLY communication with the chopper. Furthermore, the chopper pilots would have known they are operating in the flight path of airplanes on final approach, which begs the question why were they directly in the planes flight path?!

 

[Proud Prepper]

The plane looked to be targeted by the helicopter.

Who was on the plane?

 

[Sourdough]

The plane looked to be targeted by the helicopter.

Who was on the plane?

While that is not likely, I confess that was my very first thought.

 

[Snowman]

An update at 2:30 am by The Washington Post said NO SURVIVORS! Several members of the US figure skating team were on board!

 

[Jen]

Well, it's finally over.
So much talking, and no information.
How many people on each aircraft, and they collided... all stuff that has been scrolling on the screen for the last 2 hours.
That's all.
...I need a beer.

With the information I have gathered this morning, this is what I think happened:

While it looked like the helicopter was zeroing in on the plane, in reality, they were coming toward each other.

The plane got the okay to land, it made a left turn to line up with the landing strip. That left turn made it cross the path of the helicopter. The helicopter may have been above the 200 foot limit for helicopters in that area, or it may have been within the 200 foot limit - we will find that out later. For some reason the helicopter pilot didn't see the plane. The tower asked if he had eyes on the plane and he said "yes", but that may have been referring to the other plane that had just taken off parallel to the plane he hit.

It looks to me like it was an error falling mostly on the helicopter pilot who just didn't see the plane he hit, and/or the traffic controller in the tower who accepted what the helicopter pilot said, and on a lesser level, the pilot of the plane who got the okay to land and was focused on landing.

Just error. Nothing nefarious. My humble opinion at the moment.
Having a beer didn't come to mind last night for some reason.

 

[Jen]

While that is not likely, I confess that was my very first thought.

That was my first thought also.
Though.........my son lives in Wichita and sometimes travels to the East Coast on business.

 

[Jen]

Being someone who hasn't really traveled much, it was a learning experience for me. I had a colleague who had a family gathering in the area. They were not too aware of the challenges, but they had family members land at BWI, Dulles and National. There was lots of car time for them, gathering up all of the people.

I only flew in and out of Dulles once. I traveled with a classmate that time. When we were getting ready to get back out to Dulles from our hotel within blocks of the White House, we had to figure out how to get out there. I spent 20 minutes on the phone, pushing this for this option, and that for that option in order to figure out how to get to the airport.

I flew in and out of Dulles after my baby son died in 1980 (at Yale, New Haven, CT). We flew with his body back to Texas for the funeral and burial.

Last May when we went to Baltimore, I made sure we flew into Baltimore and not one of the DC airports, not that I was afraid, but just wanted to avoid getting out of DC by Uber once we landed.

 

[Amish Heart]

Sis in Florida was flipping out a bit, she flies out of here from Wichita (our airport) and into the DC one then on to Florida.

 

[Sourdough]

OK........I may have missed it but, very soon after the crash, they said three or four people were recovered ALIVE at the crash site. Were those from the chopper. As now they say all 64 humans on the jet are dead.

 

[Sourdough]

Did everyone in the helicopter die......???

 

[Magus]

The video I posted shows the helicopter hitting the plane. It was aimed for the plane for quite some time before it hit.

I am watching Newsmax

Now isn't that interesting... WHO important was on the plane?

 

[rice paddy daddy]

As usual, the Daily Mail is covering this from all angles. Without the bias of American news agencies.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/index.html
You should ALWAYS go here first for the straight scoop.

 

[Weedygarden]

OK........I may have missed it but, very soon after the crash, they said three or four people were recovered ALIVE at the crash site. Were those from the chopper. As now they say all 64 humans on the jet are dead.

I saw something saying that as well. I think I saw that they were transported to the hospital.

 

[Snowman]

https://wjactv.com/news/nation-worl...rs-figure-staking-boats-bodies-wichita-kansas

 

[Snowman]

"At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident," said D.C. Fire and EMS John Donnelly Thursday morning. "We have recovered 27 people from the plane, one from the helicopter. The District Office of Medical Examiner has been on reuniting these bodies with their loved ones, and we will continue to work and reunite them."

As of 3 p.m., ABC News sources said 40 bodies have been recovered, but dive crews will cease operations in the Potomac River until crews can move more of the wreckage to the surface. Those sources also said crews are bracing for the possibility that some victims might not be recovered due to the initial collision.

Although the identities of all passengers on board have not yet been released, the U.S. Figure Skating team confirmed that several figure skating athletes and their coaches were among the passengers.

The team confirmed that the athletes were flying back home from the National Development Camp held in Wichita, Kansas.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families close to our hearts," the U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

https://wjactv.com/news/nation-worl...rs-figure-staking-boats-bodies-wichita-kansas

 

[jazzy]

so many non sensical screw ups.
so who was on the plane?

 

[Sourdough]

I saw something saying that as well. I think I saw that they were transported to the hospital.

Yes........Exactly. Something is not adding up here. Also, on the jet were passengers from Russia.

 

[Sourdough]

so many non sensical screw ups.
so who was on the plane?

Among others was Russian Figure Skaters.

 

[Sourdough]

so many non sensical screw ups.

The ATC was super short staffed, at that time, at that location.

 

[Snowman]

Yes........Exactly. Something is not adding up here. Also, on the jet were passengers from Russia.

Among others was Russian Figure Skaters.

Speculation or do You have any Proof of those statements...?!?

 

[Sourdough]

Another thing that seems strange, they now claim the two aircraft were headed "Towards" each other.

 

[Patchouli]

Last evening elkhound posted that survivors were taken to a hospital.
On speculation, what if there were people on the flight that needed to remain nameless and the accident having happened if it were to eliminate the nameless…
I think I’ll just not worry about it.

 

[Snowman]

Another thing that seems strange, they now claim the two aircraft were headed "Towards" each other.

Just where do You keep coming up with this stuff...?!? Don't you Think that posting some Truth instead of empty statements might be benefiting others...?!?

 

[Sourdough]

For those on this forum who may not know, I have been a "commercial" pilot for roughly 40 years. When in "controlled" airspace, you do NOT tell pilots "Maintain visual spacing". I could be wrong, but I don't think you can enter controlled air space without a transponder. And said transponder turned on, and squawking the code you were given. That (transponder) tells your altitude, and heading and other important information, like your aircraft "type" (and its capabilities).

If the chopper would have had their transponder turned on........ATC would have given them new heading and "cleared" to a new altitude.

They could have told the "short final" jet to abort the landing and enter the flight pattern.

 

[Snowman]

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/plane-crash-dc-helicopter-potomac-river/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/plane-crash-victims-dc-american-airlines-black-hawk-rcna189980

https://apnews.com/live/dc-plane-crash-reagan-updates

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-washington-dc

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...national-washington-live-updates/78045404007/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-potomac-river-dc-hnk/index.html

 

[Sourdough]

I can't believe military would allow any aircraft to operate in controlled airspace without the transponder turned on. Especially if this was a "Training Flight".

 

[Neb]

@Sourdough ,

Could an understaffed or unqualified tower workers have missed the situation?


This 28 minute video documents some problems with the US Air Traffic Control system.



Ben

 

[Patchouli]

I can't believe military would allow any aircraft to operate in controlled airspace without the transponder turned on. Especially if this was a "Training Flight".

That bothered me too.
And air traffic is not allowed over Washington DC anyway.
I don’t think you have to be a pilot to do a little research about transponders and approaching for a landing.

 

[Sourdough]

Could an understaffed or unqualified tower workers have missed the situation?

I would say grossly unqualified.

He or she told the chopper pilot to maintain safe spacing, I have never heard that in controlled air space.

I would suspect "The United States Army" will be found at fault for this crash.

 

[Sourdough]

It is possible (maybe likely) that the WHOLE story about the Army chopper is a 100% lie.
Maybe it was some kind of covert operation/mission.

And why did ATC have the Identification of the chopper, and make radio contact between ATC & chopper pilot, and not tell him to turn on the transponder.