The helicopter crew was given visual approach clearance twice and was asked 2x if they had the CRJ in sight which, they confirmed. The theory is they saw the wrong plane and didn't see the CRJ.
This is exactly why "flying cars" should never be a thing. Thank you for giving this information! Prayers of Resilience for the families of the Ones who Transitioned. Know that you'll never again be alone, they're here in your corner supporting you and keeping you safe 💜🙏🏾🕊
Helicopter was above 300ft Had he stayed at 200ft as required, this accident doesn't happen. I still think ATC should say something like 'You're on collision course with CRJ at 12 o'clock, do you see it?' Instead of 'Do you see the plane?' Too little info.
The chopper took responsibility of maintaining separation from the jet when they answered ATC confirming they have visual with the jet and requested "visual separation." But yeah, everything that I've heard and seen so far is that the BlackH broke protocol and went above 200 ft, through 300 ft, and continued to climb to meet the CRJ around 400ft. So might have been that the BlackH had visual with another jet (there was another jet coming right behind the CRJ that they hit), so maybe thinking that jet was far away enough that it would be ok for them to go a little rogue and bust through the 200ft ceiling limit. Honestly, the amount of work and steady mind work that they ATC controllers have to have every single second of their shift just boggles my mind!
SilentThundersnow : Best comment, reasonable and absolutely necassary in a critical situation like this. Tower should have warned the helicopter better once to much than not clearly enough as in this case.
@@fredajordan5704 Wrong. The tower asked the Helo twice if they had the CRJ traffic in sight. As soon as the pilot of the Helo said they had the CRJ in sight and asked for visual separation, the Helo pilot assumed responsibility for maintaining separation. Those are the rules of flying. ruclips.net/video/5MrqHyLgt0U/видео.html People need to stop "What iffing the Tower". What you need to be asking is: If this was a training mission, why didn't the Helo, instructor notice the altitude and flight path deviation, and make the necessary corrections?
@@MRantzWI You are right on the money. I think we will find out that the Helo also had horizontal deviation from the established flight path and drifted towards the middle of the river. I can't believe folks are laying this on the Tower. However, the controller who asked the CRJ to change runways moments before they were supposed to land is going to have nightmares. Had the CRJ not had to dogleg to adjust to the new runway, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
The tower should know the helo was above 200ft and immediately instruct them to descend or turn around to exit the airport airspace. Being above 200ft should have immediately set of red flags for the helo instructor and ATC. This was an easily preventable disaster.
When the system relies on visual acknowledgement of another aircraft while there are other aircraft in the vicinity this cannot be considered to be a safe system.
Exactly. Surly everyone in the air has similar instruments with ALL aircraft coded? So you see plane a or b etc NOT JUST do you see that plane? That is NOT good practice esp for over a city…
If everyone flies the route as prescribed they miss one another by a mile. The visual confirmation by the crews is the tertiary safety margin of the system, not the main reason it’s safe. The jet was low, the Helo was high, neither were on their assigned routes.
We do this everyday, and it's done by 1,000's of commercial flights everyday at every major airport. It would be like arguing that every single roadway intersection in America needs to be protected by a traffic light and a cop.
Why don’t you talk about the fact that air traffic control radar showed the helicopter’s altitude as 300 feet in airspace that had a mandatory ceiling of 200 feet ?
@@uamsstudent What you don’t realize is how easy it is to climb 100 feet in a Blackhawk. You have almost 4000 hp. Think of how busy the area is. They could’ve possibly been changing radio frequencies trying to avoid other traffic and navigate their way down the Potomac river. Think of driving 35 miles an hour in your car. You look at the speedometer and then you look back outside and look back inside again and you’re going 40 miles an hour. It’s that easy to climb 100 feet. Takes less than five seconds.
In a perfect world yes... not practical in a Congested city, with obstacles, other flight paths, restricted airspace, and other national security criteria.
Not really, there are rules of separation and as long as aircraft are a certain distance apart then allnos fine. I do this all the time as a pilot myself. I think, and this is conjecture, is that the flight crew of the Blackhawk had the wrong aircraft in sight
@@Fastvoice And according to the ADSB data, they turned into the path of the airliner , over the river, instead of turning to left, over the city. Sure seems like night VFR disorientation with all the city lights and other aircraft further down river heading toward the Heli.
You're dealing with a 300(?) year old city built along a river, which needs both high capacity commercial air traffic and military air traffic within a constrained space.. Unless you're willing to raze the whole capital and do a full redesign, this is what you are working with. Bottom line, eventually accidents will happen.
@ the guy in the video just said this was normal routine so obviously people thought it was a good idea 🤣 obviously it should b changed now . The millitary base and that airport have been they're for decades....
@ But why build a military training route within 200 vertical feet of an airliner’s final approach path? Seems idiotic. And I think that’s now been proven.
The crash happened at 400 feet. That means the helicopter pilot was 200 feet higher than he should have been flying along that corridor. So which plane he was looking at is a moot point. He was at an altitude he should not have been at.
@@Djlamayonly it wasn't an aircratf taking off, the aircraft was landing. And the landing was not at runway 1, but runway 33, the other side of the airport where the helicopter was doing its training routine.
I find the entire idea of Helis avoiding planes using just pilots sight bizzare and unacceptable. That seem like a one point of failure system. So if a Heli pilot doesn't see a plane, which can happen at any day at any time, there is no other system in place to make sure there are no planes flying in the vicinity of the Heli? Say what!!!
That helicopter was supposed to be hugging the east side of the river and staying at 200 feet altitude. it had drifted up to almost 400 feet, and it was out over the middle of the river. it was pilot error by the helicopter pilot. even if he couldn't see anything, if he had stayed in his lane there would not have been a crash.
I'm sure that if the helicopter pilot had said that he did not have the CRJ in sight, then ATC would have told him to hold clear, at least that's what I do with my airspace.
Just saw a breaking news release. IT’s reporting that on TUESDAY at REAGAN, a jet had to abort a landing approach and make a second approach because of helicopter interference. Then this tragedy happens on Thursday. Why are helicopters flying routine missions in this airport’s vicinity. This was preventable.
they were flying there when reagan was still alive. this is their area to operate in. as has already been said, they've flown here for years without incident. this was a tragedy.
all 3 of them... and their supervisors who failed to FAIL them and FIRE them previously.. and the culture to fly military guys all over DC to events... vs have them drive !!
Before blaming the veteran helo pilot, it is ATC's job to ensure this does not happen and that (especially at night) everyone knows where everyone else is. ATC asked if they saw the plane, they did not specify the location of the plane in relation to the helo, nor did they warn the helo of altitude.
Surely the helicopter, flying in D.C., has proximity detectors for civilian aircraft? Any civilian aircraft within 1, 3, 5 miles or whatever means A ceiling of 200 feet does not mean "fly under landing aircraft", it means "never exceed this ceiling"
I’m guessing, the Helo saw the aircraft less than 10 seconds before collision. Pilot broke protocol and tried to climb above the RJ. Helo was at 200’ and on course to far eastern shore of the river until about 10 seconds before collision, when the Helo veered more toward the center of river and rapidly climbed to 400’. Was a 350’ just an instant before collision. That is my guess from the information I’ve seen
The helicopters MAXIMUM elevation in that area is ONLY 200’. The helicopter cannot gain altitude to 300’ until it crosses the bridge that is another mile or so down river. So why was the helicopter ABOVE 300’ when it collided with the plane?
Flight data shows the chopper below the 200 ft. "hard ceiling" (in compliance in that airspace) until about 45 seconds prior to the crash. For reasons unknown, the chopper began climbing and reached an altitude of about 350 feet, placing it on the Bombardier flight path which was descending on approach. My guess is that investigators will be focused on why the pilot chose to climb above the "hard ceiling" of 200 feet. Had he remained at 200 ft., there would have been a very close encounter but no collision.
I don't know how many deliberate actions need to take place, before this can be considered a deliberate action. Dude turned to intercept the plane, and climbed altitude to make sure it happened.
@@Asgaardiangatekeeper I think we don't want to believe the worst without being 100% especially with this being military. Unfortunately, I see it the way you do.
@@DrunkComments Possibly. We don't know why the pilot decided to climb and violate airspace regs.....very difficult to say, but it's a trained military pilot so probably not a simple mistake but something extraordinary, e.g., mechanical issue or ? One thing seems 99.99% certain.....he would never ascend into the airliner's path purposefully.
I teach flight school for the Army at at Fort Novosel, Alabama and have flown Blackhawks since 1988. I have taught night vision goggles here for the last 15 years. There was essentially no moon that night. Although the sky was clear… You would much rather be wearing night vision goggles than flying without them “unaided”. Another thing to consider is the design of the helicopter. The “a“ pillar like you would think of in a car, tends to hide traffic that may be slightly above you and to your left or right. Wearing night vision goggles brings your field of view down to 40° and you would have to be moving your head and looking around that a pillar to see traffic. I agree that the aircraft on takeoff was probably the traffic they were looking at. As long as you have the pentagon in Washington, DC you’re going to have helicopters flying the Potomac River. Think how many tens thousands of times it has happened with no issues…
3 people with night vision glasses, clear as day. Could the rotor wash leading to a sudden height gain have caused the problem? Had the airline pilots selected TOGA as you aviate communicate,? The cockpit CVRs will share more details. Lots of holes in the cheese and the first hole is some stupid small detail. That's why we have checklists and briefings.
@@larkhill2119 a new view of the accident appears the aircraft was flying straight and level. I think they were just at the wrong altitude but it’s hard to tell from the ground. Depends on which model of the Blackhawk they were flying. I’m not sure if it was a Lima model or a Mike model. A Mike model has a CVR on it but a Lima model does not. Unless it was retrofitted.
@@greenwave819 they didnt need night vision tho lmao it wouldve actually been worse it blocks your peripherals, when you have you ever seen an airplane pilot / helo wear night vision for a reuglar fligth .....
The prob is not the altitude. No pilot or ATC want one ac to pass under an ac on short final with very separation of 150 feet. ATC should have stopped or turn left the HELO. They clear saw on radar there was going to be a possible collision 1 min prior to accident.
Why was a military helicopter doing near the commercial airport?? Just because it's routine it doesn't mean it's right. It's a busy airport that doesn't need extra baggage!
Its a helicopter that is assigned to transport government VIPs. That is likely the flight path that any helicopter doing that would need to take, so it makes sense that they do training flights through that corridor. A mantra in the military is "train like you fight", meaning training has to resemble real life as much as possible.
@@vet137 You would need to SHOW that Trumps actions CAUSED this accident, correlation does not imply causation. If you have no idea what I'm talking about it's because you don't understand logical arguments. I would suggest reading books.
The video appears to show the helicopter proceeding directly toward the plane and crashing into it. Regardless of what the tower said anyone should have been able to see what was right in front of them.
If they don’t (or can’t), they shouldn’t have been asking for visual separation rules. They asked for that TWICE and the controller gave it to them. Under visual separation rules, it is the pilot’s responsibility to maintain separation, not the controller’s. That controller did everything they should have.
Not such a great interview in my view. Major Garrett failed to follow up on key points raised by Mr. Bowman. Why was the Black Hawk at an altitude higher than the ceiling of 200 ft.? 2. Why wasn't the ATC much more emphatic about the looming danger and why wasn't he much more direct and specific about the location of the plane presenting the danger and what evasive action needed to be taken NOW ?
correction You do not go down to "around 200'' FAA Maps state clearly that the CEILING is 200', you must be lower instead according to flight data they were over 300' when crashing into the American Eagle jet. This is pilot error on the helicopters part, End of story.
The strict 200ft ceiling was not meant so helos could fly under a large jet on short final. For one no HELO pilot wants to hit the wake turbulence of landing jet. And no pilot requesting a SEE AND AVOID plans on avoiding a landing jet by 200 ft. ATC should never have allowed HELO to get within a mile of that landing jet while on a collision course. ATC should have made the call to helo..stop or alter course
@@joeshmooo5327 again I have to state you guys have no idea how easy it is to climb 100 feet in a Blackhawk. You have 4000 hp at your left arm. You’re flying along at 200 feet AGL one minute and then you glance inside at the instruments for five seconds and look back out and the next thing you know you’ve climbed 150 feet. It’s like driving in your car at 35 miles an hour without cruise control on you look outside for a few seconds and look back in and you’re going 40 miles an hour. It’s that easy.
@@proudbirther1998 please stop. The helicopter pilot responded he had the CRJ insight. At that point the responsibility falls squaring on the pilot, not the controller. See and avoid is used all the time in aviation.
@ I actually teach flight school for the U.S. Army here at Fort Novosel, Alabama in the Blackhawk. My specific job is teaching night vision goggles for the last 15 years. I’ve been flying Blackhawks since 1988.
The military has no business in training its rotary or fixed wing aircraft around any designated commercial airport, especially around a busy civilian airport. The commander that ordered such training must be prosecuted. They must stop their senseless stupidity.
The Pentagon is right next to the airport and the White House is another spitting distance. They need to fly near the airport day or night, so they need to train. You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs.
@@chez3869 ATC double-checked with the heli pilot 10 seconds before the collision, and the heli pilot reassured ATC they had the airplane in sight and would go behind it. Not sure what more you want from ATC. This was the heli pilot's fault, sadly
a black bird flying over water at night, and thats even called normal? 200 feet from other crafts? still normal. at 200 feet the wash from the blackwalk is a danger to aircraft.
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for an accident to happen. Helicopters flying up and down a flight path for commercial aircraft is a recipe for disaster. MADNESS
Nah, Bowman contradicts what other experienced pilots are saying. The helicopter failed and the controller also failed in that he should've given more clarity to the pilot than just "crj".
because there's a military base airfield right across the river from Reagan airport goofball..... they've been doing this for decades this isnt new the guy in the video just explained the normal procedures
@@diegojines-us9pc Not blacked out. They had ADS-B off, but transponders on, which is why ATC could see them. This has been going on for a long time. Wait for the NTSB to come back with recommendations.
Because of the Pentagon (helipad) and White House, not to mention nearby military airbases. What do you do when you have a medical or police emergency near the airport? Don't fly medical or police helicopters near the airport because of the air traffic?
They flew a helicopter straight into the final approach of a major busy airport! They should not be in there at all, its too risky if something goes wrong. 200 feet is not enough separation. It's a stupid idea.
10 feet is as good as a mile. 200 feet is even better. I routinely miss trees on the side of the road by about 20 feet, much less than 200 feet, when driving. The bottom line is, over about 250,000 flights in the US per year , accidents can happen eventually due to operator or other error.
They do that multiple times a day for decades. Separation can also be at only 150 ft vertical or less (plus the horizontal separation). Ceiling for helicopters is 200 ft, incoming planes may be at about 350 at this point - like in the actual case. Problem is that the helicopter was also that high.
The miliary helicopter was flying at 350 feet, when 200 feet was the ceiling limit for helicopters in that air space. It was entirely the military copter's fault. That is what the guest is trying to say without saying it directly when he keeps talking about "proscribed routes". (See comments under accident update on blancolirio YT.)
From what I listened to The ATC and the Blackhawk pilots .. The Blackhawk had accepted the visual separation which left them on their own to look out for the incoming plane ...But, the Blackhawk spotted the wrong plane behind them, not the one that was coming in ...
The helo shot up about 100' in the last few seconds, right into the plane's path. Probably they were reacting to their collision avoidance alarm and misread its cause. As far as tower goes, there is an expectation of expertise and local knowledge for pilots. The helo operators should know their flight paths and rules. Tower asked twice if the helo saw the plane, helo said yes both times. Tower directed the helo to go around behind the plane. Helo either disregarded the instruction or didn't really see the plane. So it doesn't matter what altitude the tower saw, there was nothing they could do about that. Go listen to the audio. ATC was on top of things before the accident, clearly engaged and paying attention and thinking ahead... and did a great job in the aftermath.
The Helicopter was supposed to be at 200 feet or lower. The Helicopter rose to 350 just before the crash. Totally the National Guard Training Helicopters fault
I cannot comprehend how it is that pilots rely on visual perception in the dark. Marine Captains are not allowed to, why would Air Captains be allowed to? What’s next, blind helicopter pilots?
So the way the route is designed, if everything goes perfectly, there is only 150' of separation. Not much wiggle room if things aren't flown correctly or other mistakes are made.
Its not if everything goes perfectly there is only 150' of separation.. If the helicopter had followed the right route, had flown at the correct altitude, and had complied with multiple ATC instructions, this would not have happened..
If it was just ONE pilot on board you could stretch the imagination and say maybe for the entire mile he had direct visibility ahead at same altitude he did not see the plane was looking in another direction, but THREE pilots and neither of the three saw it nor was looking straight ahead. No collision alarm, radar, etc? Also blackhawks can maneuver like hell. They are a war helo for a reason. I have been in far bigger choppers and they can do insanely fast maneuvers (to such degree I popped an ear drum on a flight)
From the videos of the collision, it's easy to see the incredibly bright lights the plane had, pointing forward. Seems like that would have been easy to see if someone was much closer and at the same hight
Sounds like the causes that often cause avoidable accidents - complacency ('we've done this plenty of times'), poor training, poor supervision (nobody noticing that two aircraft were on a collision course strongly indicates poor training and supervision), lack of awareness (the aircraft you are looking at is not the one you are supposed to be looking at), people who were distracted and not doing their jobs. Flying under those conditions was risky (night flying is notorious for resulting in disorientation and poor depth and distance perception), there was no room for error with flights arriving and departing a minute apart, yet fatal errors were made. Where was the redundancy, the oops button, the allowance for failure? Air traffic control is supposed to prevent collisions, but they made this one happen. It's like the fire department burning down their own station. Not nearly good enough. Heads should be on pikes.
PAT 25 got clearance for visual separation meaning the tower was no longer controlling him. He had the wrong aircraft in sight obviously and flew right into the one he was suppose to be looking for. No reason to allow the use of see and avoid around airliners too many lives at risk human error is too great.
@@Mike-01234 This. Aircraft can blend in with city lights and become invisible. It's possible they were tracking another plane on the same approach or one taking off. For whatever reason, they followed the 200' deck but climbed to 300' just before the collision for whatever reason. Curious if it was maybe target fixation where you go where you look. Like on a motorcycle, you'll almost certainly go in the ditch you're trying to avoid if you're looking at it.
I shake my head at your comment. The fact that 7 people agree with it makes me shake it even more. It was an accident. Nothing to do with a politician who been in his job 3 days.
With all the issues that have surfaced with this airport and lack of Air traffic controllers……. Why the Hell are we trying to go the Moon and Mars!!! We need to get our priorities together!!
Exactly!!! But, I've been asking the same question for years. Until we fix our problems at home, we don't need to be worrying ourselves with other planets. Let's fix the one we've ruined instead of trashing another
Just because that route has been flown many time before without incident does not make it safe consider this:- "Normalization Of Deviance" VFR operations at night mixing civil and military traffic is never going to have a happy ending. An airliner at night on an IMC approach, breaking off for a circling approach to a different runway VFR is a complete recipe for a disaster. What on earth are the controllers thinking about. This would not happen in Europe. Just hope that the Military and Politicians are not involved with the investigation.
Oh yeah? Whatever the helicopter pilot was looking at he was still obliged to maintain the 200 foot ceiling and there is no way he could not see a moving commercial aircraft in front of his nose.
Why isn't the heli hugging the opposite shore? The intersection would occur earlier in the descent when the commercial is at a higher altitude. That seems like the scenario. They were on different frequencies so you don't get complete situational awareness of all the planes in the area. I don't know what ATC said but the only the short recordings released indicate they didn't specify the "jet landing runway [01/33?] short final altitude 400 ft." to differentiate from the jet taking off. The heli should have to confirm he has the "landing jet runway [01/33?] in sight". Failing that, ATC should have been strict and instructed the heli out of the area since they did not properly confirm knowledge of the traffic.
Has anyone in aviation ever contacted the ATC managers or the FAA about this supposed usual military flight route intersecting short final? Seems enough people should notice it is too close for comfort and needs to be adjusted. It obviously will be now.
A 100-foot altitude difference is _nowhere near_ large enough for a "safety factor." Normal air travel for commercial craft are something like 1000 feet or more. Never should there be any military operations near an airport this busy if the margin for error is a mere 100 feet. Very Best Regards, Tom Scott 🗽 Author ● Speaker ● World's Leading Expert on the Corrupt U.S. Legal System _Our American Injustice System_ _Stack the Legal Odds in Your Favor_
The people on the coptor were wearing night vision goggles which restricts your tunnel of vision. With 2 planes in the Air, ATC should have been more specific..
This is simple. The helicopter did not observe the 200 feet altitude limit which would ensure helicopters are always below inbound and outbound aircraft. This is pilot error. From the video we clearly see the helicopter rising to collide with the jet. Most likely he was looking at the plane on runway.....and was just reckless enough to assume he had the airspace to themselves. We all break rules all the time
ATC was not monitoring the computer screen ...or visual IF THEY WERE THEY WOULD HAVE SAID "LOOK OUT!!! not ewwww, after the collision!!!!! ATC FAIL!!!!
I know it's easy for me to say but in a helicopter its all glass in the front so how the hell didn't they see a plane at night with its lights on? Did you watch the video it shows the chopper going right towards the plane so how could you not see it with the lights so bright at night????
As a former flight instructor, I can also tell you that it can be remarkably difficult to spot another aircraft at night, especially if it is silhouetted against a backdrop of brighter city lights. Unless the aircraft is pointed right at you with the landing lights on, you might miss it. Also, as the other commenter mentioned, the air traffic is heavy, with planes taking off and landing less than a minute apart, so the pilot may have thought he had the correct aircraft in sight when it was actually the one in front of the airliner he hit. Also, this was an evaluation/qualification flight for the helicopter pilot, and there could have been extra stress and workload from having multiple people onboard, some of them training or evaluating. It's even possible that the radio call from the helicopter wasn't made by the flying pilot, which brings in another possible complicating factor. I have also heard reports that the helo pilot may have been using night vision; I've never used it while flying, but perhaps a military chopper pilot reading this can tell us if it could have limited the pilot's vision in some respects.
Did the president even listen to the voices in the tower they asked them 3 times if they seen the plane they said yes it was there responsibility to avoid it! They must have been looking at the plane behind it! It was not a DEI or tower problem it was a tragedy.
DEI means "take anybody but the white man" so the Prez is trying to cull that every chance he gets because that's what he does. Not relevant in this instance, of course, as you point out. But I don't want to support the idea that culling it is misguided. Hot sports opinion here.
You are spreading complete false liberal propaganda lies from the internet. He gutted the Aviation "Security" committee who over see security procedures, not operational flying protocol, and they only meet once a month at that. And no ATC controllers have been let go since he took office.
Throughout the ATC, Helo pilot, and AA pilot conversation, no one asks if the AA plane is approaching or departing. I think the Helo pilot thought the ATC was informing him of the departing flight in that video. ATC asks TWICE and TWICE Helo pilot says Yeah I see him. They are all looking at the departing flight (to the right) and then they are right on top of the AA plane not seeing it out their cockpit to the left. They thought they hit that gap in between approaching and departing flights. ATC also offered AA RW33 at the last minute because it's closer to terminals and such.
Why didn’t the air traffic controller give clear instructions for the helicopter to stop? Instead of just asking if the pilot sees the approaching jet, he should have directly ordered the helicopter to stop traveling south. If it continued, it would have entered the flight path of the American Airlines jet. The air traffic controller is the only one who can see both the jet and the military helicopter on the radar, so it was his responsibility to issue precise instructions. It’s strange that, despite noticing the helicopter getting too close to the jet, he didn’t simply command it to stop immediately to avoid a potential collision.
Hearts out to all families and victims - devastating!!! Thank u for fair reporting - not like Trump that face families one moment of silence before he started blaming everyone under the sun - instead oh having dignity as a pres and saying we are worh i amd will look into this - period not the slamming of names around and blame - disgusting for families and america
No insight at all from this interview! The helicopter were required to follow the special route, along the river bank, but flew in middle of river. it were required to stay at or below 200 feet altitude, but it flew 400 to 300 feet. This is 100 % the helicopter's fault.
This former pilot provided great info while respecting the investigation and the respect for those lost souls.
Hardly. Its like he hasnt even listed to or watched the video.
The helicopter crew was given visual approach clearance twice and was asked 2x if they had the CRJ in sight which, they confirmed.
The theory is they saw the wrong plane and didn't see the CRJ.
In theory the tower should have confirmed which aircraft. They tracked both on radar.
That’s what RUclips Captain Steeeve said.
That's what the guy said.
no matter the Were. 125-150 ft above Maximum of 200ft at impact
Nonsense that wasn't the issue
The 200ft ceiling isn't meant to allow a landing jet on shortfinal to fly over a helicopter
It's good to hear it from an experience Black Hawk Helo pilot that flew that same route many times. Very good interview!
This is exactly why "flying cars" should never be a thing.
Thank you for giving this information!
Prayers of Resilience for the families of the Ones who Transitioned. Know that you'll never again be alone, they're here in your corner supporting you and keeping you safe 💜🙏🏾🕊
Helicopter was above 300ft
Had he stayed at 200ft as required, this accident doesn't happen.
I still think ATC should say something like 'You're on collision course with CRJ at 12 o'clock, do you see it?'
Instead of
'Do you see the plane?'
Too little info.
The chopper took responsibility of maintaining separation from the jet when they answered ATC confirming they have visual with the jet and requested "visual separation." But yeah, everything that I've heard and seen so far is that the BlackH broke protocol and went above 200 ft, through 300 ft, and continued to climb to meet the CRJ around 400ft. So might have been that the BlackH had visual with another jet (there was another jet coming right behind the CRJ that they hit), so maybe thinking that jet was far away enough that it would be ok for them to go a little rogue and bust through the 200ft ceiling limit. Honestly, the amount of work and steady mind work that they ATC controllers have to have every single second of their shift just boggles my mind!
SilentThundersnow : Best comment, reasonable and absolutely necassary in a critical situation like this. Tower should have warned the helicopter better once to much than not clearly enough as in this case.
@@fredajordan5704 Wrong. The tower asked the Helo twice if they had the CRJ traffic in sight. As soon as the pilot of the Helo said they had the CRJ in sight and asked for visual separation, the Helo pilot assumed responsibility for maintaining separation. Those are the rules of flying. ruclips.net/video/5MrqHyLgt0U/видео.html People need to stop "What iffing the Tower". What you need to be asking is: If this was a training mission, why didn't the Helo, instructor notice the altitude and flight path deviation, and make the necessary corrections?
@@MRantzWI You are right on the money. I think we will find out that the Helo also had horizontal deviation from the established flight path and drifted towards the middle of the river. I can't believe folks are laying this on the Tower. However, the controller who asked the CRJ to change runways moments before they were supposed to land is going to have nightmares. Had the CRJ not had to dogleg to adjust to the new runway, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
The tower should know the helo was above 200ft and immediately instruct them to descend or turn around to exit the airport airspace. Being above 200ft should have immediately set of red flags for the helo instructor and ATC. This was an easily preventable disaster.
When the system relies on visual acknowledgement of another aircraft while there are other aircraft in the vicinity this cannot be considered to be a safe system.
US allows this all the time. EU bans it, especially at night n in an urban sitting, for good reason.
Exactly. Surly everyone in the air has similar instruments with ALL aircraft coded? So you see plane a or b etc NOT JUST do you see that plane? That is NOT good practice esp for over a city…
ya sure.
If everyone flies the route as prescribed they miss one another by a mile. The visual confirmation by the crews is the tertiary safety margin of the system, not the main reason it’s safe. The jet was low, the Helo was high, neither were on their assigned routes.
We do this everyday, and it's done by 1,000's of commercial flights everyday at every major airport. It would be like arguing that every single roadway intersection in America needs to be protected by a traffic light and a cop.
Why don’t you talk about the fact that air traffic control radar showed the helicopter’s altitude as 300 feet in airspace that had a mandatory ceiling of 200 feet ?
Whatever the controller was saying, you have to keep 200 ft
@@uamsstudent What you don’t realize is how easy it is to climb 100 feet in a Blackhawk. You have almost 4000 hp. Think of how busy the area is. They could’ve possibly been changing radio frequencies trying to avoid other traffic and navigate their way down the Potomac river. Think of driving 35 miles an hour in your car. You look at the speedometer and then you look back outside and look back inside again and you’re going 40 miles an hour. It’s that easy to climb 100 feet. Takes less than five seconds.
@@jimteegarden9250my bmw suv only has 250 hp 😔
And he climbed to 400 feet that is 2x the max
@@vntnnguyen and the helo climbed to collide at 400 feet
Nothing should be crossing the path of a active runway......period.
that would be to smart !!!
Unfortunately our space is becoming overwhelmed by too many machines and flying safety is no longer guaranteed.
♥Trump♥
At the certain altitudes especially and that seems applicable regardless of what the helicopter crew might have been paying attention to
In a perfect world yes... not practical in a Congested city, with obstacles, other flight paths, restricted airspace, and other national security criteria.
200 feet darting in front of an airliner flying at 400 feet is nuts.
YES it IS Been There its NOT an EASY TASK Ever
Problem is that the helicopter flew a bit over 300 ft.
Not really, there are rules of separation and as long as aircraft are a certain distance apart then allnos fine. I do this all the time as a pilot myself. I think, and this is conjecture, is that the flight crew of the Blackhawk had the wrong aircraft in sight
@@Fastvoice And according to the ADSB data, they turned into the path of the airliner , over the river, instead of turning to left, over the city. Sure seems like night VFR disorientation with all the city lights and other aircraft further down river heading toward the Heli.
@@Fastvoice It gained alt to 350' to impact.
Such a sad, tragic day horrific accident
Who’s brilliant idea was it to have military ops in the final approach of one of the world’s busiest airports?
You're dealing with a 300(?) year old city built along a river, which needs both high capacity commercial air traffic and military air traffic within a constrained space.. Unless you're willing to raze the whole capital and do a full redesign, this is what you are working with. Bottom line, eventually accidents will happen.
theyve been doing ops forever this isnt new at all , its the same at hawaii airport and san diego airport
@@chez3869 are you implying it was a good idea because it’s old?
@ the guy in the video just said this was normal routine so obviously people thought it was a good idea 🤣 obviously it should b changed now . The millitary base and that airport have been they're for decades....
@ But why build a military training route within 200 vertical feet of an airliner’s final approach path? Seems idiotic. And I think that’s now been proven.
The crash happened at 400 feet. That means the helicopter pilot was 200 feet higher than he should have been flying along that corridor. So which plane he was looking at is a moot point. He was at an altitude he should not have been at.
His reasoning makes more sense to me.
An aircraft taking off from runway 1 would never be in conflict with a helicopter flying on the other side of the airport. It makes no sense!!!
@@Djlamayonly it wasn't an aircratf taking off, the aircraft was landing. And the landing was not at runway 1, but runway 33, the other side of the airport where the helicopter was doing its training routine.
I find the entire idea of Helis avoiding planes using just pilots sight bizzare and unacceptable.
That seem like a one point of failure system. So if a Heli pilot doesn't see a plane, which can happen at any day at any time, there is no other system in place to make sure there are no planes flying in the vicinity of the Heli? Say what!!!
It's like a squirrel trying to cross in front of a car. Eventually the car hits the squirrel.
That helicopter was supposed to be hugging the east side of the river and staying at 200 feet altitude. it had drifted up to almost 400 feet, and it was out over the middle of the river. it was pilot error by the helicopter pilot. even if he couldn't see anything, if he had stayed in his lane there would not have been a crash.
I'm sure that if the helicopter pilot had said that he did not have the CRJ in sight, then ATC would have told him to hold clear, at least that's what I do with my airspace.
@Zorthal when it's obvious he doesn't actually see the plane the ATC should have intervened before it was too late.
Hmmm what else is going on in America. I they trying to distract you from anything else? Any new laws being passed right now?
Just saw a breaking news release. IT’s reporting that on TUESDAY at REAGAN, a jet had to abort a landing approach and make a second approach because of helicopter interference. Then this tragedy happens on Thursday. Why are helicopters flying routine missions in this airport’s vicinity. This was preventable.
Normal routine training
Military pilot arrogance?
Decades. This has been normal, everyday activity for DECADES. You're welcome.
they were flying there when reagan was still alive. this is their area to operate in. as has already been said, they've flown here for years without incident. this was a tragedy.
the milltary base is across the river from the airport its the exact same way in san diego and hawaii this isnt new at all
Then how does this not happen at airports every night?
What a tragedy ! 2025 has been the longest year already it feels like
Give me a break.
Don’t worry! After six months in office, our great President Donald J. Trump, will make 2025 the best year of your life! MAGA!
This was 100% the military pilots error and fault.
all 3 of them... and their supervisors who failed to FAIL them and FIRE them previously.. and the culture to fly military guys all over DC to events... vs have them drive !!
Don't be stupid please. TWR clear south path twice to the helicópter, as they move the plane from 01 to 33 RWY.
Sadly agree
Before blaming the veteran helo pilot, it is ATC's job to ensure this does not happen and that (especially at night) everyone knows where everyone else is. ATC asked if they saw the plane, they did not specify the location of the plane in relation to the helo, nor did they warn the helo of altitude.
@ hey bubba do you see traffic 12 o'clock same altitude??? you guys high or what????!!!! I said go behind NOT INTO!
Surely the helicopter, flying in D.C., has proximity detectors for civilian aircraft? Any civilian aircraft within 1, 3, 5 miles or whatever means A ceiling of 200 feet does not mean "fly under landing aircraft", it means "never exceed this ceiling"
Ime still curious why the Helo was at 400ft when 200ft was their ceiling to avoid collision.
Maybe the helo pilot was the DEI hire.
@@peterrutkowski8172 Was the copilot and flight instructor as well?? Any comment on the DUI hires in the new Administration?
@@ronmaxim8009 DUI and DEI are 2 totally different things 😀
@@peterrutkowski8172 Only Trump is.
I’m guessing, the Helo saw the aircraft less than 10 seconds before collision. Pilot broke protocol and tried to climb above the RJ. Helo was at 200’ and on course to far eastern shore of the river until about 10 seconds before collision, when the Helo veered more toward the center of river and rapidly climbed to 400’. Was a 350’ just an instant before collision.
That is my guess from the information I’ve seen
With all due respect Mr. Bowman the system or protocols didn't fail. Somebody was flying at the wrong altitude.
Wrong, how many hours do you have flying
Respectfully, or both
The helicopters MAXIMUM elevation in that area is ONLY 200’. The helicopter cannot gain altitude to 300’ until it crosses the bridge that is another mile or so down river.
So why was the helicopter ABOVE 300’ when it collided with the plane?
@@doinkclown1981 Well, that's the question isn't it? What ever the protocol is it's been working until last night. Can't blame the system.
@@tankcommander33 Wrong in what way? The protocols weren't flying. Pilots were flying.
Flight data shows the chopper below the 200 ft. "hard ceiling" (in compliance in that airspace) until about 45 seconds prior to the crash. For reasons unknown, the chopper began climbing and reached an altitude of about 350 feet, placing it on the Bombardier flight path which was descending on approach. My guess is that investigators will be focused on why the pilot chose to climb above the "hard ceiling" of 200 feet. Had he remained at 200 ft., there would have been a very close encounter but no collision.
I don't know how many deliberate actions need to take place, before this can be considered a deliberate action. Dude turned to intercept the plane, and climbed altitude to make sure it happened.
The helo went up to 400 feet
Gross incompetence.. it's tragic
@@Asgaardiangatekeeper I think we don't want to believe the worst without being 100% especially with this being military. Unfortunately, I see it the way you do.
@@DrunkComments Possibly. We don't know why the pilot decided to climb and violate airspace regs.....very difficult to say, but it's a trained military pilot so probably not a simple mistake but something extraordinary, e.g., mechanical issue or ? One thing seems 99.99% certain.....he would never ascend into the airliner's path purposefully.
I teach flight school for the Army at at Fort Novosel, Alabama and have flown Blackhawks since 1988. I have taught night vision goggles here for the last 15 years. There was essentially no moon that night. Although the sky was clear… You would much rather be wearing night vision goggles than flying without them “unaided”. Another thing to consider is the design of the helicopter. The “a“ pillar like you would think of in a car, tends to hide traffic that may be slightly above you and to your left or right. Wearing night vision goggles brings your field of view down to 40° and you would have to be moving your head and looking around that a pillar to see traffic. I agree that the aircraft on takeoff was probably the traffic they were looking at. As long as you have the pentagon in Washington, DC you’re going to have helicopters flying the Potomac River. Think how many tens thousands of times it has happened with no issues…
3 people with night vision glasses, clear as day. Could the rotor wash leading to a sudden height gain have caused the problem? Had the airline pilots selected TOGA as you aviate communicate,? The cockpit CVRs will share more details. Lots of holes in the cheese and the first hole is some stupid small detail. That's why we have checklists and briefings.
@@larkhill2119 a new view of the accident appears the aircraft was flying straight and level. I think they were just at the wrong altitude but it’s hard to tell from the ground. Depends on which model of the Blackhawk they were flying. I’m not sure if it was a Lima model or a Mike model. A Mike model has a CVR on it but a Lima model does not. Unless it was retrofitted.
interesting how other pilots and experts have said this was massively odd to have a heli flying in the landing path and at landing height.
also FoV with night vision wouldn't be an issue, they don't stop you from seeing what is directly in front of you
@@greenwave819 they didnt need night vision tho lmao it wouldve actually been worse it blocks your peripherals, when you have you ever seen an airplane pilot / helo wear night vision for a reuglar fligth .....
Where did you find this?
The prob is not the altitude. No pilot or ATC want one ac to pass under an ac on short final with very separation of 150 feet.
ATC should have stopped or turn left the HELO. They clear saw on radar there was going to be a possible collision 1 min prior to accident.
The helicopter was told to wait for the plane to pass
Flight situation well summed up by Mr Bowman.
so its routine to fly a helicopter 200 feet under a plane. I DONT THINK SO>
Why was a military helicopter doing near the commercial airport?? Just because it's routine it doesn't mean it's right. It's a busy airport that doesn't need extra baggage!
You should check it out before condemming..
Its a helicopter that is assigned to transport government VIPs. That is likely the flight path that any helicopter doing that would need to take, so it makes sense that they do training flights through that corridor. A mantra in the military is "train like you fight", meaning training has to resemble real life as much as possible.
Trump fired 400 FAA senior officials, the TSA head, and 3,000 air traffic controllers
@@vet137 You would need to SHOW that Trumps actions CAUSED this accident, correlation does not imply causation. If you have no idea what I'm talking about it's because you don't understand logical arguments. I would suggest reading books.
I see Trumps decisions are making America great again!
Why would they be asking him if he sees an aircraft taking off that in no way would ever be a conflict with theirs?
The video appears to show the helicopter proceeding directly toward the plane and crashing into it. Regardless of what the tower said anyone should have been able to see what was right in front of them.
Also... intentional or it was a woman texting while driving
"Do you see CRJ aircraft?"
With so many planes in the sky, how would a helicopter pilot know which is which?
If they don’t (or can’t), they shouldn’t have been asking for visual separation rules. They asked for that TWICE and the controller gave it to them. Under visual separation rules, it is the pilot’s responsibility to maintain separation, not the controller’s. That controller did everything they should have.
The helicopter pilot should have let the ATC guide them instead of taking responsibility.
GREAT INTERVIEW! 💪Thank you.
Not such a great interview in my view. Major Garrett failed to follow up on key points raised by Mr. Bowman. Why was the Black Hawk at an altitude higher than the ceiling of 200 ft.? 2. Why wasn't the ATC much more emphatic about the looming danger and why wasn't he much more direct and specific about the location of the plane presenting the danger and what evasive action needed to be taken NOW ?
With the information they have been privy to. Explanation was succinct and thorough.
Praying for victims and their families 🙏
correction You do not go down to "around 200'' FAA Maps state clearly that the CEILING is 200', you must be lower instead according to flight data they were over 300' when crashing into the American Eagle jet. This is pilot error on the helicopters part, End of story.
The strict 200ft ceiling was not meant so helos could fly under a large jet on short final.
For one no HELO pilot wants to hit the wake turbulence of landing jet.
And no pilot requesting a SEE AND AVOID plans on avoiding a landing jet by 200 ft.
ATC should never have allowed HELO to get within a mile of that landing jet while on a collision course. ATC should have made the call to helo..stop or alter course
@@joeshmooo5327 again I have to state you guys have no idea how easy it is to climb 100 feet in a Blackhawk. You have 4000 hp at your left arm. You’re flying along at 200 feet AGL one minute and then you glance inside at the instruments for five seconds and look back out and the next thing you know you’ve climbed 150 feet. It’s like driving in your car at 35 miles an hour without cruise control on you look outside for a few seconds and look back in and you’re going 40 miles an hour. It’s that easy.
@@jimteegarden9250not so, are you a pilot?
@@proudbirther1998 please stop. The helicopter pilot responded he had the CRJ insight. At that point the responsibility falls squaring on the pilot, not the controller. See and avoid is used all the time in aviation.
@ I actually teach flight school for the U.S. Army here at Fort Novosel, Alabama in the Blackhawk. My specific job is teaching night vision goggles for the last 15 years. I’ve been flying Blackhawks since 1988.
The military has no business in training its rotary or fixed wing aircraft around any designated commercial airport, especially around a busy civilian airport. The commander that ordered such training must be prosecuted. They must stop their senseless stupidity.
The Pentagon is right next to the airport and the White House is another spitting distance. They need to fly near the airport day or night, so they need to train. You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs.
Why would ATC be warning the chopper about a jet taking off in the opposite direction? Of course the incoming traffic was where the eyes should be!
atc wasnt paying attention lets be honest
@@chez3869 ATC double-checked with the heli pilot 10 seconds before the collision, and the heli pilot reassured ATC they had the airplane in sight and would go behind it. Not sure what more you want from ATC. This was the heli pilot's fault, sadly
a black bird flying over water at night, and thats even called normal? 200 feet from other crafts? still normal. at 200 feet the wash from the blackwalk is a danger to aircraft.
I’m surprised it’s taken this long for an accident to happen. Helicopters flying up and down a flight path for commercial aircraft is a recipe for disaster. MADNESS
The Helo was @ 350ft. instead f 200ft. just as the CJ was descending thru 400-300 on the visual approach.
@@roybatty1891 female pilot from arkansas
IMO 100 feet separation is not nearly enough too risky helos should not fly in the approach path until they are 1000 feet below an airliner.
@@judomike4255 the released audio from the helo was a male voice though?
@@Mike-01234 Not possible in that airspace.
@@naranja1972 Usually you have one pilot flying and one pilot monitoring and communicating.
Sorry to say that the interviewee omitted to mention the fact that the helo pilot flew up to the plane, he was not being honest.
This explaination makes sense. They were looking at the wrong plane
But the helicopter still agreed to go "behind" the incoming plane. Not in front...
Nah, Bowman contradicts what other experienced pilots are saying. The helicopter failed and the controller also failed in that he should've given more clarity to the pilot than just "crj".
A200ft ceiling is in place , no guessing , no conjecture needing, copter was to high , fairly simple
why is the military flying anywhere near any airport?
because there's a military base airfield right across the river from Reagan airport goofball..... they've been doing this for decades this isnt new the guy in the video just explained the normal procedures
funny thing. a black out craft flying at night only approved to be 200 feet apart. come on people think no way thats was allowed EVER>
@@diegojines-us9pc Not blacked out. They had ADS-B off, but transponders on, which is why ATC could see them. This has been going on for a long time. Wait for the NTSB to come back with recommendations.
Because of the Pentagon (helipad) and White House, not to mention nearby military airbases. What do you do when you have a medical or police emergency near the airport? Don't fly medical or police helicopters near the airport because of the air traffic?
That flight path where those passenger jets pass to land and take flight should be set as no flight zones to avoid any of this
They flew a helicopter straight into the final approach of a major busy airport! They should not be in there at all, its too risky if something goes wrong. 200 feet is not enough separation. It's a stupid idea.
10 feet is as good as a mile. 200 feet is even better. I routinely miss trees on the side of the road by about 20 feet, much less than 200 feet, when driving. The bottom line is, over about 250,000 flights in the US per year , accidents can happen eventually due to operator or other error.
They do that multiple times a day for decades. Separation can also be at only 150 ft vertical or less (plus the horizontal separation). Ceiling for helicopters is 200 ft, incoming planes may be at about 350 at this point - like in the actual case. Problem is that the helicopter was also that high.
theyve been doing this for decades , its the exact same way in hawaii and san diego
think its a blacked out bird as well.
The miliary helicopter was flying at 350 feet, when 200 feet was the ceiling limit for helicopters in that air space. It was entirely the military copter's fault. That is what the guest is trying to say without saying it directly when he keeps talking about "proscribed routes". (See comments under accident update on blancolirio YT.)
I don't know how an accomplished helicopter pilot missed a plane head on and was 200ft above his altitude, on a very clear night. Horrible story.
@SeniorMoostacho: bet there WERE NOT experienced helicopter flyers in that helicopter.
They were on a training mission, they were far from experienced which would probably be the key in the investigation
@Nikowalker007 aahh, reports say accomplished pilot, annual review type.
Thank you for the CLARITY in layman's terms by an EXPERT and former EXPERIENCED pilot🙏🏽...and none of the political hooha!
Seems both tower control and the helicopter pilot didn't know (or care) the helicopter was flying above the 200 ft. limit
I don’t believe the helicopter had their tracking system wasn’t turned on. Not sure that the ATC knew their exact elevation.
From what I listened to The ATC and the Blackhawk pilots .. The Blackhawk had accepted the visual separation which left them on their own to look out for the incoming plane ...But, the Blackhawk spotted the wrong plane behind them, not the one that was coming in ...
The helo shot up about 100' in the last few seconds, right into the plane's path. Probably they were reacting to their collision avoidance alarm and misread its cause.
As far as tower goes, there is an expectation of expertise and local knowledge for pilots. The helo operators should know their flight paths and rules. Tower asked twice if the helo saw the plane, helo said yes both times. Tower directed the helo to go around behind the plane. Helo either disregarded the instruction or didn't really see the plane.
So it doesn't matter what altitude the tower saw, there was nothing they could do about that.
Go listen to the audio. ATC was on top of things before the accident, clearly engaged and paying attention and thinking ahead... and did a great job in the aftermath.
@@glenm99 ... and it was only one ATC guy for two frequencies (civil/military). Big workload.
@@Fastvoice Military was on the same frequency as the CRJ...
The Helicopter was supposed to be at 200 feet or lower. The Helicopter rose to 350 just before the crash. Totally the National Guard Training Helicopters fault
I cannot comprehend how it is that pilots rely on visual perception in the dark. Marine Captains are not allowed to, why would Air Captains be allowed to? What’s next, blind helicopter pilots?
So the way the route is designed, if everything goes perfectly, there is only 150' of separation. Not much wiggle room if things aren't flown correctly or other mistakes are made.
not really, the helo is supposed to maintain 200' elevation AND avoid being in the path, the helo is never supposed to be directly under a jet.
Mistakes like darkness at night.
Its not if everything goes perfectly there is only 150' of separation.. If the helicopter had followed the right route, had flown at the correct altitude, and had complied with multiple ATC instructions, this would not have happened..
@ronmaxim8009 All true, but humans make errors, and in that environment, the system in place leaves you with zero outs if someone makes a mistake.
Soooo... these advanced helicopters don't even have radar?
The air around had so much space to maneuver you want to tell me that helicopter Pilot was so negligent.
Black hawk is a big heavy helicopter. Its not like the light one that can be manuever easily
The H60 pilot did not see him.
If it was just ONE pilot on board you could stretch the imagination and say maybe for the entire mile he had direct visibility ahead at same altitude he did not see the plane was looking in another direction, but THREE pilots and neither of the three saw it nor was looking straight ahead. No collision alarm, radar, etc?
Also blackhawks can maneuver like hell. They are a war helo for a reason. I have been in far bigger choppers and they can do insanely fast maneuvers (to such degree I popped an ear drum on a flight)
@@julin2rs548 Then why did he twice say he had the CRJ?? There were three sets of eyes in that cockpit..
It is against the rules for the helicopter to fly above 200 feet!!
Ppl always breaking rules
From the videos of the collision, it's easy to see the incredibly bright lights the plane had, pointing forward. Seems like that would have been easy to see if someone was much closer and at the same hight
when your driving on the highway and see an airplane at night you dont notice the airplane until its right above u even tho it was flashing lights
Crew was likely wearing night vision goggles which process the image and distort depth perception.
@@chez3869lights can be blinding
@markw1123 i could be wrong but doesn't night vision goggles make regular light even brighter?
@ beyond a certain level of bright they can filter
Sounds like the causes that often cause avoidable accidents - complacency ('we've done this plenty of times'), poor training, poor supervision (nobody noticing that two aircraft were on a collision course strongly indicates poor training and supervision), lack of awareness (the aircraft you are looking at is not the one you are supposed to be looking at), people who were distracted and not doing their jobs. Flying under those conditions was risky (night flying is notorious for resulting in disorientation and poor depth and distance perception), there was no room for error with flights arriving and departing a minute apart, yet fatal errors were made. Where was the redundancy, the oops button, the allowance for failure? Air traffic control is supposed to prevent collisions, but they made this one happen. It's like the fire department burning down their own station. Not nearly good enough. Heads should be on pikes.
It just doesnt seem like an accident. Not at all.
Zero chance of intentionally t-boning an airplane that is going 200 mph
yep
Yeah I called BS immediately. Only questions that should be asked is *Who was onboard when this occurred*
Well now we know the helicopter was at 300 feet and killed 64 people.
Not only 200 feet but also routing along the _east shore_ of the river not over the middle of the river.
PAT 25 got clearance for visual separation meaning the tower was no longer controlling him. He had the wrong aircraft in sight obviously and flew right into the one he was suppose to be looking for. No reason to allow the use of see and avoid around airliners too many lives at risk human error is too great.
exactly!
@@Mike-01234 This. Aircraft can blend in with city lights and become invisible. It's possible they were tracking another plane on the same approach or one taking off. For whatever reason, they followed the 200' deck but climbed to 300' just before the collision for whatever reason. Curious if it was maybe target fixation where you go where you look. Like on a motorcycle, you'll almost certainly go in the ditch you're trying to avoid if you're looking at it.
@@Mike-01234 Well then get ready to hire another 100,000 air traffic controllers because see and avoid is used all over this country.
a black out bird flying over water only 200 feet apart. dumbest thing i ever heard.
Yes I thought the same, they mistake one plane with the other, but still the question, why the altitude how he did not check his hight ?
The helicopter pilot is at fault in this collision. Secretary of defense should have resigned after this accident.
Gimme a break
@@steveshea6148 It turned out, a day before the accident another jet almost collided with a helicopter near Reagan airport and had to go around
I shake my head at your comment. The fact that 7 people agree with it makes me shake it even more. It was an accident. Nothing to do with a politician who been in his job 3 days.
@@jameshill4900 It's TDS by proxy.
@@jameshill4900 But Trump was blaming the Dems!
A good interview, appropriate questions, and clear informative replies by Mr Bowman. A tragedy indeed.
With all the issues that have surfaced with this airport and lack of Air traffic controllers……. Why the Hell are we trying to go the Moon and Mars!!! We need to get our priorities together!!
Exactly!!! But, I've been asking the same question for years. Until we fix our problems at home, we don't need to be worrying ourselves with other planets. Let's fix the one we've ruined instead of trashing another
Greed to grab more land on the MOON 🇺🇸😂
Moon and Mars are fantasies to distract from how we're destroying the only planet we can live on.
Just because that route has been flown many time before without incident does not make it safe consider this:- "Normalization Of Deviance" VFR operations at night mixing civil and military traffic is never going to have a happy ending. An airliner at night on an IMC approach, breaking off for a circling approach to a different runway VFR is a complete recipe for a disaster. What on earth are the controllers thinking about. This would not happen in Europe. Just hope that the Military and Politicians are not involved with the investigation.
AT or BELOW 200ft
Great interview. Clean and clear information given. This pilot never spoke beyond what he knows to be fact. And his conjecture was very informed.
Oh yeah? Whatever the helicopter pilot was looking at he was still obliged to maintain the 200 foot ceiling and there is no way he could not see a moving commercial aircraft in front of his nose.
She......
She. Female commander.
Male- pilot instructor
Male-crew chief
Oh Geezas…now I know what Trump meant…
Why isn't the heli hugging the opposite shore? The intersection would occur earlier in the descent when the commercial is at a higher altitude.
That seems like the scenario. They were on different frequencies so you don't get complete situational awareness of all the planes in the area. I don't know what ATC said but the only the short recordings released indicate they didn't specify the "jet landing runway [01/33?] short final altitude 400 ft." to differentiate from the jet taking off. The heli should have to confirm he has the "landing jet runway [01/33?] in sight". Failing that, ATC should have been strict and instructed the heli out of the area since they did not properly confirm knowledge of the traffic.
What was a helicopter doing in the flight path
This happened inDC. Its very busy air space. Commercial, Military, private including Presidential.
He literally explained in the video.
inferior action hires ?
causing a crash and killing 67 people.
hitting the plain
Has anyone in aviation ever contacted the ATC managers or the FAA about this supposed usual military flight route intersecting short final? Seems enough people should notice it is too close for comfort and needs to be adjusted. It obviously will be now.
He should’ve coached the president on how to speak after an event that’s being investigated. Great insight.
Waste of time.. Trump does not take coaching.. He knows everything..
You're seriously critising Trumps speaking after 4 years of Joey? Really?
@@CelticSaintFFS
Hey lets do helicopter training at night in the middle of a busy airport and then build our houses out of match sticks.
Why did ATC *_approve visual separation?_*
SOP.
Because that's how it's done
Because that's how it's been done in that area for the past 20 years
A 100-foot altitude difference is _nowhere near_ large enough for a "safety factor." Normal air travel for commercial craft are something like 1000 feet or more. Never should there be any military operations near an airport this busy if the margin for error is a mere 100 feet.
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Tom Scott 🗽
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The Blackhawk pilot said he saw the wrong plane. It was completely the fault of the Blackhawk pilot. This commentary is military cover up.
The people on the coptor were wearing night vision goggles which restricts your tunnel of vision.
With 2 planes in the Air, ATC should have been more specific..
@@kristiross8751 They did.. They told them to look at the Woodrow Wilson bridge where the CRJ was.. The pilots said they had the traffic in sight.
This is simple. The helicopter did not observe the 200 feet altitude limit which would ensure helicopters are always below inbound and outbound aircraft. This is pilot error. From the video we clearly see the helicopter rising to collide with the jet. Most likely he was looking at the plane on runway.....and was just reckless enough to assume he had the airspace to themselves. We all break rules all the time
How sad that military people (who are supposed to protect the country) killed an entire airplane full of innocent people.
Nothing new....the US military is in the business of killing innocent civilians
He was most likely a 40-50 year old white Felon-voter. NOT DEI!
@@tvdinner325 he was white and also a dei as reported.
It was an accident
ATC was not monitoring the computer screen ...or visual IF THEY WERE THEY WOULD HAVE SAID "LOOK OUT!!! not ewwww, after the collision!!!!! ATC FAIL!!!!
This was extremely insightful and informative. Thank you for this.
Collision? Blackhawk helicopter blindsided a CRJ and killed everyone onboard.
Does the tower know the helicopter flies too low? Is the tower responsible to warn the helicopter crew?
Helicopter Rams into an airliner. That’s NOT a ‘collision’.
Ironic that Trump cut ATC funding and got hundreds of ATC fired???? No. You fool.
Google "collision".
Agreed. The black hawk did not seem to avert its flight path with a huge aircraft in front of it but rather sped forward into its side.
Yes..that's exactly what it looked like on the video..helicopter crashed into the aircraft...😢
Wrong, Helicopter flew in Front of airliner.
So sorry for all onboard. RIP and condolences to familys, sporting family.
Finally an expert worth having on the air
expert? he said the airport lets aircraft fly at 200 feet apart at night?
He said 20 years again they didn’t have NVGs, I was a flight medic on a Huey in the late 80’s and the pilots had NVGs.
He said they didn’t. Meaning the crew that flew in that area. Not as a whole
I know it's easy for me to say but in a helicopter its all glass in the front so how the hell didn't they see a plane at night with its lights on? Did you watch the video it shows the chopper going right towards the plane so how could you not see it with the lights so bright at night????
Landing lights are bright looking forward. The helo struck PSA on the side where there are dimmer running lights.
Could have been looking another way, by the time pilot saw it could have been late
I saw somewhere, they were wearing night vision goggles, which restrict your tunnel of vision
The Felon-in-Chief blamed blacks and gays, instead of SAYING HE SYMPATHIZES WITH THE VICTIMS' FAMILIES!
What a horrible person.
NOT Presidential!
As a former flight instructor, I can also tell you that it can be remarkably difficult to spot another aircraft at night, especially if it is silhouetted against a backdrop of brighter city lights. Unless the aircraft is pointed right at you with the landing lights on, you might miss it.
Also, as the other commenter mentioned, the air traffic is heavy, with planes taking off and landing less than a minute apart, so the pilot may have thought he had the correct aircraft in sight when it was actually the one in front of the airliner he hit. Also, this was an evaluation/qualification flight for the helicopter pilot, and there could have been extra stress and workload from having multiple people onboard, some of them training or evaluating. It's even possible that the radio call from the helicopter wasn't made by the flying pilot, which brings in another possible complicating factor. I have also heard reports that the helo pilot may have been using night vision; I've never used it while flying, but perhaps a military chopper pilot reading this can tell us if it could have limited the pilot's vision in some respects.
NARROW WAY TO HEAVEN by APOLOGETIX a great song for everyone to look up
Did the president even listen to the voices in the tower they asked them 3 times if they seen the plane they said yes it was there responsibility to avoid it! They must have been looking at the plane behind it! It was not a DEI or tower problem it was a tragedy.
1 controller handling both helicopters and planes. Major no no. Per reports that came into of all places, CNN.
They don't care, it's all about making political points using the dead.
DEI means "take anybody but the white man" so the Prez is trying to cull that every chance he gets because that's what he does. Not relevant in this instance, of course, as you point out. But I don't want to support the idea that culling it is misguided. Hot sports opinion here.
Good interview and guest. Thanks.
The helo was above 200 feet...
Seems like a setup, no way they should ever be that near each other. Distraction for something and the innocent have to suffer.
Donald Trump caused this ACCIDENT by gutting the Aviation Safety Committee last week leading to the widespread shortage of air traffic controllers.
nope, it was the normal staff, but due to it being quieter than normal, they decided the one guy could handle it. google it.
You are spreading complete false liberal propaganda lies from the internet. He gutted the Aviation "Security" committee who over see security procedures, not operational flying protocol, and they only meet once a month at that. And no ATC controllers have been let go since he took office.
Throughout the ATC, Helo pilot, and AA pilot conversation, no one asks if the AA plane is approaching or departing. I think the Helo pilot thought the ATC was informing him of the departing flight in that video. ATC asks TWICE and TWICE Helo pilot says Yeah I see him. They are all looking at the departing flight (to the right) and then they are right on top of the AA plane not seeing it out their cockpit to the left. They thought they hit that gap in between approaching and departing flights.
ATC also offered AA RW33 at the last minute because it's closer to terminals and such.
Why didn’t the air traffic controller give clear instructions for the helicopter to stop? Instead of just asking if the pilot sees the approaching jet, he should have directly ordered the helicopter to stop traveling south. If it continued, it would have entered the flight path of the American Airlines jet. The air traffic controller is the only one who can see both the jet and the military helicopter on the radar, so it was his responsibility to issue precise instructions. It’s strange that, despite noticing the helicopter getting too close to the jet, he didn’t simply command it to stop immediately to avoid a potential collision.
I just don't understand how do you allow military air training in any proximity to an airport? Is there any other area available for that?
something happened on that helicopter
question. has this pilot ever trained a civilian airport? at night?
Trump needs to zip his lips.
BEST explanation yet
Hearts out to all families and victims - devastating!!! Thank u for fair reporting - not like Trump that face families one moment of silence before he started blaming everyone under the sun - instead oh having dignity as a pres and saying we are worh i amd will look into this - period not the slamming of names around and blame - disgusting for families and america
Helo pilot thought he was further south at Wilson bridge... And climbed to 300 ft ?
No insight at all from this interview! The helicopter were required to follow the special route, along the river bank, but flew in middle of river. it were required to stay at or below 200 feet altitude, but it flew 400 to 300 feet. This is 100 % the helicopter's fault.