1 hour ago, nees1212 said:

I was talking to someone earlier that lived in DC for years and flew out of DCA and Dulles multiple times.  She said the airport was never designed for the amount of traffic that it has today.  Over the years, it has added so many direct flights to accommodate everyone so they don't have layovers like the common person.  For the past handful of years, she said she will only use Dulles, because she said this really was only a matter of time with the amount of air traffic around there.  

 

I looked at the comparisons between DCA and CVG just out of curiosity.  CVG sits on over 7000 acres compared to DCA's 860.  CVG has 55 direct flights compared to DCA's 108.   CVG averages 91 flights per day compared to DCA's 388.  Add in the amount of military air traffic around DCA, and those skies are constantly full.

They were saying the main runway at DCA is the busiest single runway in the country. 

4 hours ago, theguru said:

It is hard to believe we have this level of incompetence at the FAA.

I wonder how much influence the military is having in this regard. Is the FAA getting bullied to allow military aircraft in the area? I wonder what other airports have that kind of military traffic that close to flight paths. 

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

They were saying the main runway at DCA is the busiest single runway in the country. 

I believe it.  With that many flights per day, and 3 runways that intersect each other, it has to be crazy there.

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

I wonder how much influence the military is having in this regard. Is the FAA getting bullied to allow military aircraft in the area? I wonder what other airports have that kind of military traffic that close to flight paths. 

Certainly that is something that needs to be looked at.  I was talking to a retired Army friend today and we both thought that if the Army was being allowed/instructed to do something dangerous by the FAA, the Army should have taken their own independent action to correct it. 

1 hour ago, nees1212 said:

I was talking to someone earlier that lived in DC for years and flew out of DCA and Dulles multiple times.  She said the airport was never designed for the amount of traffic that it has today.  Over the years, it has added so many direct flights to accommodate everyone so they don't have layovers like the common person.  For the past handful of years, she said she will only use Dulles, because she said this really was only a matter of time with the amount of air traffic around there.  

 

I looked at the comparisons between DCA and CVG just out of curiosity.  CVG sits on over 7000 acres compared to DCA's 860.  CVG has 55 direct flights compared to DCA's 108.   CVG averages 91 flights per day compared to DCA's 388.  Add in the amount of military air traffic around DCA, and those skies are constantly full.

Numerous reports have focused on the amount of air traffic that uses DCA and it does sound like it is maxed out.  With that said, knowing that it is so congested, the FAA should never allow DCA to be low on air traffic controllers. 

Two DCA airport employees have been arrested in connection with the leak of a video showing the moment Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter.  The Airport Authority workers were charged with making an unauthorized copy of records related to the midair collision.

1 hour ago, theguru said:

Two DCA airport employees have been arrested in connection with the leak of a video showing the moment Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter.  The Airport Authority workers were charged with making an unauthorized copy of records related to the midair collision.

What a stupid way to lose a great job. Hopefully they were paid well for leaking the video. 

Just now, TheDeuce said:

What a stupid way to lose a great job. Hopefully they were paid well for leaking the video. 

Definitely stupid and normally you can't profit from criminal activity so I assume they will have to give any money they received back. 

I have heard reports claiming the tower and helicopter "walked on each other" talking over each other on the radio which results in a lack of communication.

Also, this is a Facebook reel, I am not saying everything here is 100% but it looks like an honest effort to inform about the collision. 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1156757542676636

The crash is pretty simple from what I have heard. There is a 200 foot ceiling for helicopters in that area. Regardless of communication issues and possible altitude data discrepancy, the helicopter was flying at close to 300 hundred feet and the helicopter crew knew they were over 200 feet. All the other he said, she said and communication issues are superfluous. If the helicopter had followed the rules and been at 200 feet or less, no crash.

REPORT: The female pilot flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight, made multiple mistakes and ignored a warning from her co-pilot, according to the New York Times.

Tragic.

The New York Times reports that there were multiple mistakes made leading up to the tragedy that took over 60 lives.

“Not only was the Black Hawk flying too high, but in the final seconds before the crash, its pilot failed to heed a directive from her co-pilot, an Army flight instructor, to change course,” the NYT reports.

The report also puts blame on the air traffic controller for not being clear and urgent enough however Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, who was co-piloting and the instructor of Captain Rebecca Lobach, told her to turn left. She didn’t.

“He told her he believed that air traffic control wanted them to turn left, toward the east river bank.”

“Turning left would have opened up more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342, which was heading for Runway 33 at an altitude of roughly 300 feet. She did not turn left,” reported the NYT.

10 hours ago, theguru said:

REPORT: The female pilot flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight, made multiple mistakes and ignored a warning from her co-pilot, according to the New York Times.

Tragic.

The New York Times reports that there were multiple mistakes made leading up to the tragedy that took over 60 lives.

“Not only was the Black Hawk flying too high, but in the final seconds before the crash, its pilot failed to heed a directive from her co-pilot, an Army flight instructor, to change course,” the NYT reports.

The report also puts blame on the air traffic controller for not being clear and urgent enough however Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, who was co-piloting and the instructor of Captain Rebecca Lobach, told her to turn left. She didn’t.

“He told her he believed that air traffic control wanted them to turn left, toward the east river bank.”

“Turning left would have opened up more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342, which was heading for Runway 33 at an altitude of roughly 300 feet. She did not turn left,” reported the NYT.

Very sad and unfortunate.