all those ATC anti-vaxxers who got fired by the previous government that didn’t help as well.
My question why was the helicopter flying at the same height of a known glide path slope/height? ATC didn’t tell the Heli to fly lower or even higher?
As well ATV giving the OK for visual separation at night wasn’t smart.
Heli pilot probably didn’t see the CRJ in the glare of city lights and probably thinking ATC meant the next inbound a mile back and thought he could zip across.
Another thought – why was ATC late in warning about the CRJ that the Heli pilot probably was thinking about another plane a mile away.
The ATC should have told the CRJ to abort and go around, or the Heli to hold position, but that is hindsight.
Captain Steve has good analysis of
It
Just heard on Laura at Fox, there was another close call with a heli and plane the night before…
The idea that the helicopter should have flown 200 ft UNDER a landing airliner is utterly INSANE!! My property is nearly 200 ft long … and the idea that two large aircraft with all their prop wash and jet wash should have flown 200 ft from one another?!!! That’s utterly INSANE!!!
I don’t believe the onus should be on ATC to initiate contact with the helo. It should be … SHOULD BE … the helo pilot who contacts ATC and ASKS … ASKS!!! for clearance! The ATC is tracking the helo … but … they don’t know whether the helo will change direction or speed and avoid the runway traffic … until it was TOO LATE.
It is INSANE to allow a helo to approach a commercial airport … and cross air traffic … UNLESS there are NO birds in the air … anywhere close. 200 ft. … Puhleeze!??
Initial reports is the Helo was cleared to pass behind the aircraft, but the helo pilot fixated on the wrong aircraft (the one leaving not landing).
One correct call would have been “Helo, hold position” and then cleared him through after.
Agreed, hold your position, it is a helicopter after all…
But the other jet taking off was long gone and father north.
Having said that, even if the heli was to pass behind the CRJ, the heli was already in the glide path zone, so how could he pass behind even if the heli-pilot was looking at another plane a mile away.
As if passing behind a jetliners jet engine wash and turbulence makes any sense whatsoever. Here’s an idea! Ensure these aircraft stay 1/2 mile clear of each other?
Here’s what I tell the helo pilot if I’m the ATC … “STOP!!!!” … “NOW!!!!”
Yes, and I expect that the pilot or pilots will be blamed for losing “situational awareness”, or something similar. You have a complex and dangerous situation, approved by bureaucrats, whose defense for allowing this situation to exist will be that it has been operating “safely” for years, as if just because an accident doesn’t happen today is proof that a situation is “safe”.
Without knowing more information, the default responsibility should go to the agency with overall control of the air space, the FAA, but more likely, the pilot(s) will be blamed.
Aircraft are hard to see even in daylight if you’re above them.
Thanks. This is as a good explanation and begs the question of why helicopter operations are permitted so close to a very busy airport where flight paths intersect – more so at night.
At Ottawa airport, which admittedly is not as busy, I’ve seen helicopters hovering waiting for an aircraft to land before crossing the active runway and proceeding on their flight. Helicopters do not cross the approach and departure airspace of an active runway.
I attended a course on risk assessment and mitigation when I worked for the DOT. If you had told me last week that helicopters were flying at night 200 feet below the glide slope with an aircraft on approach I would have thought no one can be that stupid, there are too many things that can go wrong.
The day before the crash, another plane had to abort a landing at Reagan National, due to the proximity of a helicopter.
Thomas Massie posted a video clip of the ATC screen in the ~45 seconds or so leading up to the crash. Three things stand out:
1) The helo violated the 200-foot hard ceiling. It clearly shows up on the screen at “03” – flight level 03 – 300 feet.
2) The screen clearly lit up “CA” – Collision Alert – a good 20 seconds or so before the crash. That’s not much, but an alert ATC should immediately have given the helo one chance, and one chance only, to get the hell out of the way before ordering the plane to abort its landing, climb, and go around.
3) The flight tracks are plainly on an intercept / collision course from the moment the video starts. Again, alert ATC should’ve been watching that intently with ability to respond instantly if it got worse, and both the “03” on the helo flight track and the “CA” indicator should’ve had that ATC jumping.
Pilot error by the helo pilot combined with ATC failure.
I’m hearing from a number of sources that the control tower staffing was below normal.
https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1885078285295509808?
all those ATC anti-vaxxers who got fired by the previous government that didn’t help as well.
My question why was the helicopter flying at the same height of a known glide path slope/height? ATC didn’t tell the Heli to fly lower or even higher?
As well ATV giving the OK for visual separation at night wasn’t smart.
Heli pilot probably didn’t see the CRJ in the glare of city lights and probably thinking ATC meant the next inbound a mile back and thought he could zip across.
Another thought – why was ATC late in warning about the CRJ that the Heli pilot probably was thinking about another plane a mile away.
The ATC should have told the CRJ to abort and go around, or the Heli to hold position, but that is hindsight.
Captain Steve has good analysis of
It
Just heard on Laura at Fox, there was another close call with a heli and plane the night before…
The idea that the helicopter should have flown 200 ft UNDER a landing airliner is utterly INSANE!! My property is nearly 200 ft long … and the idea that two large aircraft with all their prop wash and jet wash should have flown 200 ft from one another?!!! That’s utterly INSANE!!!
I don’t believe the onus should be on ATC to initiate contact with the helo. It should be … SHOULD BE … the helo pilot who contacts ATC and ASKS … ASKS!!! for clearance! The ATC is tracking the helo … but … they don’t know whether the helo will change direction or speed and avoid the runway traffic … until it was TOO LATE.
It is INSANE to allow a helo to approach a commercial airport … and cross air traffic … UNLESS there are NO birds in the air … anywhere close. 200 ft. … Puhleeze!??
Initial reports is the Helo was cleared to pass behind the aircraft, but the helo pilot fixated on the wrong aircraft (the one leaving not landing).
One correct call would have been “Helo, hold position” and then cleared him through after.
Agreed, hold your position, it is a helicopter after all…
But the other jet taking off was long gone and father north.
Having said that, even if the heli was to pass behind the CRJ, the heli was already in the glide path zone, so how could he pass behind even if the heli-pilot was looking at another plane a mile away.
As if passing behind a jetliners jet engine wash and turbulence makes any sense whatsoever. Here’s an idea! Ensure these aircraft stay 1/2 mile clear of each other?
Here’s what I tell the helo pilot if I’m the ATC … “STOP!!!!” … “NOW!!!!”
Yes, and I expect that the pilot or pilots will be blamed for losing “situational awareness”, or something similar. You have a complex and dangerous situation, approved by bureaucrats, whose defense for allowing this situation to exist will be that it has been operating “safely” for years, as if just because an accident doesn’t happen today is proof that a situation is “safe”.
Without knowing more information, the default responsibility should go to the agency with overall control of the air space, the FAA, but more likely, the pilot(s) will be blamed.
Aircraft are hard to see even in daylight if you’re above them.
Juan’s update today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3gD_lnBNu0
He is a good sub on Youtube.
Another airline pilot explains, including what happened after the collision
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hfgllf1L9_4
Thanks. This is as a good explanation and begs the question of why helicopter operations are permitted so close to a very busy airport where flight paths intersect – more so at night.
At Ottawa airport, which admittedly is not as busy, I’ve seen helicopters hovering waiting for an aircraft to land before crossing the active runway and proceeding on their flight. Helicopters do not cross the approach and departure airspace of an active runway.
I attended a course on risk assessment and mitigation when I worked for the DOT. If you had told me last week that helicopters were flying at night 200 feet below the glide slope with an aircraft on approach I would have thought no one can be that stupid, there are too many things that can go wrong.
The day before the crash, another plane had to abort a landing at Reagan National, due to the proximity of a helicopter.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/01/30/dc-plane-crash-updates-helicopter-potomac-reagan-airport/
They didn’t say who’s helicopter.
Military intelligence….
Thomas Massie posted a video clip of the ATC screen in the ~45 seconds or so leading up to the crash. Three things stand out:
1) The helo violated the 200-foot hard ceiling. It clearly shows up on the screen at “03” – flight level 03 – 300 feet.
2) The screen clearly lit up “CA” – Collision Alert – a good 20 seconds or so before the crash. That’s not much, but an alert ATC should immediately have given the helo one chance, and one chance only, to get the hell out of the way before ordering the plane to abort its landing, climb, and go around.
3) The flight tracks are plainly on an intercept / collision course from the moment the video starts. Again, alert ATC should’ve been watching that intently with ability to respond instantly if it got worse, and both the “03” on the helo flight track and the “CA” indicator should’ve had that ATC jumping.
Pilot error by the helo pilot combined with ATC failure.