Airliner collides with helicopter near Washington DC airport

Too early to worry about the causes of the cause/s. Flights in that area need to be evaluated and any rules, restrictions etc need to be strictly enforced. Find the victims first then cause. Put them to rest.

Peace
 

WhatInThe said:
Too early to worry about the causes of the cause/s. Flights in that area need to be evaluated and any rules, restrictions etc need to be strictly enforced. Find the victims first then cause. Put them to rest.

Peace
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There was another air crash in Philadelphia tonight. Something is going very wrong with air travel in America right now.
:eek:
 
Such a terrible tragedy! I can't imagine what the loved ones and colleagues of those who were killed are going through! The figure skaters and their families and coaches probably had an exciting, joyous time, not knowing it would be their last. I made Dua (a special prayer) for their families, friends and colleagues, as well as for their souls. May they R.I.P.

Last I heard was that all those in the helicopter were experienced pilots, that 40 bodies have been recovered and that they need to bring up the wreckage to retrieve the other bodies. :cry:
 

oldman said:
The airport and it’s location is a squeeze. They never should have allowed a helicopter to be among the mix, especially at the time of day it was. I doubt if the the helicopter had a transponder in it. The ATC was lining up the planes for landing. Helicopters, normally do not get a place in line. They generally sit their bird down the tarmac and then it’s moved later once things quiet down.

There had to be a lot of confusion on the runway and tarmac and now there’s helicopter without a transponder, which makes it more difficult to track. I can see where there was probably a lot if confusion.

I flew out of Dulles (IAD). That was my home airport. Both airports are located outside of the city. Both airports are busy. Reagan flies a lot of politicians and it’s more convenient for those people who want to get out of town in a hurry. I can see and understand that there was a lot of confusion, mainly on the part of the ATC’s. I’m not saying this is what caused the accident, but it sure didn’t help any.

I have confidence that the NTSB will figure it out.
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I really like how your "story" went from " doubt if the helicopter had a transponder" to "now there's a helicopter w/out a transponder."
 
Rakaia said:
The article I referred to was supposedly written by a serving Army helicopter flight instructor. They clearly crossed a boundary by writing it and posting it on Reddit. I can't vouch for the veracity of that article, it seemed plausible and I am unable to find it again.
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Just because 1 person has one opinion based on one set of facts does not lend any credence to the idea that the Army staff is generally disregarding their soldiers. The Army does not risk valuable aircraft and pilots willy nilly. And I can assure you those guys flying the helicopter were complete badasses w all the skills, training, and experience needed and this flight was just "routine" until a series of compounding errors led to the accident.

In this particular case there are apparently so many other obvious factors contributing to the accident that it further discounts the one opinion.
 
againstthegrain said:
I really like how your "story" went from " doubt if the helicopter had a transponder" to "now there's a helicopter w/out a transponder."
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I didn't realize that some of these newer versions of helicopters do have transponders. This would allow the ATC to track the helicopter and probably planes in the area should have also been able to see where the helicopter was. I must admit that my knowledge of helicopters is very limited.

I remember one incident I had with a helicopter in Washington. Talk about that some other day. Dulles was my home airport, but the local TV stations put choppers in the air to track highway traffic. There are two people in each chopper--one flying and one giving a traffic report.

This crash will be very interesting to follow once the hearings get underway, but we are a long way from that yet.

I am hoping that the NTSB shows the screenshot of what the ATC was looking at just before the two planes made contact.

The plane was a Bombardier CRJ-700.

Bombardier.jpg
 
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This is the third reminder about our no-politics rule in this thread.

Any mention of DEI will result in a permanent ban. Let's keep the discussion on-topic and avoid politics.
 
The copilot was a woman who finished in the top 20% of her class as well as being very experienced.
 
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againstthegrain said:
Just because 1 person has one opinion based on one set of facts does not lend any credence to the idea that the Army staff is generally disregarding their soldiers. The Army does not risk valuable aircraft and pilots willy nilly. And I can assure you those guys flying the helicopter were complete badasses w all the skills, training, and experience needed and this flight was just "routine" until a series of compounding errors led to the accident.

In this particular case there are apparently so many other obvious factors contributing to the accident that it further discounts the one opinion.
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John Cox, who was a Captain for the old U.S. Air and later started his own business selling safety programs to the airlines and he also worked for the FAA as a consultant, once said what everyone knew to be true. “No one thing causes a plane crash.” It took me awhile, but eventually I did understand what he was saying.

When Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crashed, we were told that the company that supplied the helicopter and flight crew were their best. Kobe enjoyed flying around LA in his Sikorsky, he said it’s the fastest way to get around LA.

Point is that no matter how good we think we are at doing something, there is always that possibility that something could go wrong.

Myself, I never liked flying in helicopters. My first experience was flying inside one while I was in Vietnam. I still don’t like them.
 
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oldman said:
I was reading the article below and how many parents and children were killed in this mishap.

Parents & Children Killed
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A figure skating team or club was lost as well. Apparently Nancy Kerrigan was part of the organization because she didn't take the news too well.

Tragic and probably preventable.
 

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