HC/Plane Crash at Reagan National Airport

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The use of helicopters around Washington has become so frequent that the sound of the whirling blades has become ubiquitous at the Pentagon. Defense officials can look out their windows daily and see them landing and taking off, sometimes in pairs.

Army helicopters sometimes ferry three-star and four-star generals from Fort Belvoir to the Pentagon, shaving 45 minutes or more off a trip by car, said Andrew Logan, a Washington resident who co-founded Helicopters of DC, a website that tracks helicopter operations.

The Air Force’s 1st Helicopter Squadron, based at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, also has responsibility for ferrying senior government officials and VIPs around Washington, a mission its pilots sometimes discuss, Logan said.

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https://www.wsj.com/politics/nationa...02ffc8?mod=mhp

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Originally Posted by Cajunrunner

https://www.wsj.com/politics/nationa...02ffc8?mod=mhp

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Interesting, but not surprising.

Captain Steeeve gives some good insight

https://youtu.be/rL8tf9_rkWA?si=SMu411QHFFFZrjne

VASAviation video on TCAS incident involving army chopper about 24 hrs before crash in DC. This was an accident waiting to happen

https://youtu.be/huVFZ__q2rI?si=HeDQKx5GhWOVjGxC

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Originally Posted by JMV JustMyView

I am glad we are hearing from both AirBill and Cajun4Life both true professionals in the aviation arena. This was a bad situation all the way around. Hopefully some new Sop's and such will be formed to make sure something like this never happens again.

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Agree. Super cool to have two experts in that field sharing some knowledge. Thanks guys.

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Originally Posted by HelmutVII

Captain Steeeve gives some good insight

https://youtu.be/rL8tf9_rkWA?si=SMu411QHFFFZrjne

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Good stuff.

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Originally Posted by Cajunrunner

https://www.wsj.com/politics/nationa...02ffc8?mod=mhp

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My point exactly. This airspace is extremely crowded for mostly political reasons. This accident was a surprise to exactly no one who's flown in and out of there. Frustrating and infuriating.

Jaun brown always has great info on the Philadelphia crash

https://youtu.be/u6_bLhBMngY?si=0mE7On5O_SM_O8FK

This pilot from San Diego gave probably the most accurate analysis of the challenges of DC airspace, and I agree 100 percent with it:

"The [Ronald Reagan] Washington National Airport has been here for 80 years or longer, long before helicopters were ever invented. Now, over the decades, the volume of helicopter traffic has evolved to the point where approaching Runway 33 is, in my opinion, dangerous because it takes aircraft in too close a proximity to where helicopters are normally operating," he said.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/lo...6-fa311c5992ff

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Originally Posted by AirBill

My point exactly. This airspace is extremely crowded for mostly political reasons. This accident was a surprise to exactly no one who's flown in and out of there. Frustrating and infuriating.

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Which is why I don’t think we hate the D.C. crowd (politicians and “high ranking” officials) enough.

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Originally Posted by Cajunrunner

Which is why I don’t think we hate the D.C. crowd (politicians and “high ranking” officials) enough.

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100 percent divorced from reality, the vast majority of them.

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Originally Posted by AirBill

This pilot from San Diego gave probably the most accurate analysis of the challenges of DC airspace, and I agree 100 percent with it:

"The [Ronald Reagan] Washington National Airport has been here for 80 years or longer, long before helicopters were ever invented. Now, over the decades, the volume of helicopter traffic has evolved to the point where approaching Runway 33 is, in my opinion, dangerous because it takes aircraft in too close a proximity to where helicopters are normally operating," he said.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/lo...6-fa311c5992ff

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"It’s become super in-vogue and “cool” to just blame the helicopter pilots, and then sprinkle some blame on the controller.

But the ridiculous, absurd hodge-podge of procedural waivers and TERPS variances that are required to support an operational volume for which this field was never intended is completely overlooked. We’re trying to run 1,000 operations a day into an airport built before jets. Before Pearl Harbor. It’s almost as if nothing could go wrong having an airliner initiate a 40° turn starting at 500’ AGL, with a descent rate of 760FPM, finishing the turn at 200’ AGL less than 1,000 feet from the runway. Through a helicopter corridor. At night. On a last-minute diversion that previous aircraft declined."

Is this correct? If so, how hasn't an accident like this happened before? Crazy.