AA5342 Collides with Helicopter

Apparently the AA aircraft is in two pieces in water 7FT deep and the Blackhawk is upside down.

Water is just above freezing.

CBS reporting 18 bodies have been recovered so far. Not looking good if they’re recovering bodies and not people.
 
justinbrett said:
It appears the CRJ descended into the Blackhawk, which suggests the Blackhawk never had the aircraft in sight. Most likely confused with the departing 737 (AA1630).

IFR and VFR respectively which unless there’s a local rule to the contrary, ATC have to separate and thus most likely had a separation breakdown before the visual separation was assigned.
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As reported on CNN

Air traffic controller audio obtained by CNN from LiveATC.net captures the moment the air traffic control operators ask the helicopter if the commercial flight operated by PSA Airlines is in sight.

An air traffic controller said, “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The controller then said, “PAT 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”

The audio then captured audible gasps, including a loud “oooh” in the background apparently from the tower, at the moment of the crash.

The tower then alerted another pilot of what has taken place.

“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach end of 3-3. We are going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future if you want to go back to the gate. Highly suggest you guys coordinate with the company. Let me know what you want to do,” the controller says, referencing runway 33.

The audio also revealed that another pilot had seen the incident and confirmed with an air traffic controller.
 
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Live reporting: local Mayor and EMS, even Senators (one from Kansas) are getting to the mic.

"Folks on that flight are recovered." That's not a search and rescue.

Black hawk was doing training exercises with 3 soldiers on board. 64 people on the AA plane
 
OATEK said:
Press briefing under way but not much detail about rescue outcomes.
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It doesn’t help the mayor of DC is running it. The airport isn’t even in DC, it’s in Virginia. Could you imagine Clover Moore running one if we had a crash in Sydney?

I would have thought the FAA peeps with her would be better to run it. She’s just fobbing off most questions.

The new secretary of Transportation was just sworn in and is there.
 
justinbrett said:
It doesn’t help the mayor of DC is running it. The airport isn’t even in DC, it’s in Virginia. Could you imagine Clover Moore running one if we had a crash in Sydney?

I would have thought the FAA peeps with her would be better to run it. She’s just fobbing off most questions.

The new secretary of Transportation was just sworn in and is there.
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It’s interesting as the airport authority (Metro
Washington Airports Authority) is a unique entity with members appointed by VA, MD, DC and the US President.

The airport is in VA but the crash site is on the DC side of the river so most of the response will be led by DC, thus Mayor of DC leading.

There is also no FAA administrator at the moment.
 
antycbr said:
It’s interesting as the airport authority (Metro
Washington Airports Authority) is a unique entity with members appointed by VA, MD, DC and the US President.

The airport is in VA but the crash site is on the DC side of the river so most of the response will be led by DC, thus Mayor of DC leading.

There is also no FAA administrator at the moment.
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The new Secretary of Transportation was there.

My comment was more that a politician with no aviation experience is running it. Probably more that DC doesn’t have a governor. I doubt you’d see any other mayor running it, such as LAX.

QF WP said:
From a group on LinkedIn to which I am subscribed:

View attachment 429569

View attachment 429567

AA have this up in their website:

View attachment 429568
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Yes I referenced Swiss Cheese in my earlier post.

In Australia we have facilities that retransmit UHF transmissions on VHF and vice versa. It’s interesting that they don’t have this.

Still more facts to come, but I’d hazard a guess the controller might be out of a job.
 
Different radio types is probably not a factor, they were talking to the same controller, only thing missing would be the effect of AM on VHF vs FM on UHF which is unlikely to come into play.
 
Also seems like the approach to Runway 33 is a little unusual and requires special training (I suspect for noise purposes) with a straight north approach up the Potomac and then a late 30 degree turn to the runway.

Possibly part of the swiss cheese that caused the helo to seemingly identify the incorrect plane.
 
markis10 said:
Different radio types is probably not a factor, they were talking to the same controller, only thing missing would be the effect of AM on VHF vs FM on UHF which is unlikely to come into play.
Click to expand...

No it’s a huge loss to situational awareness because the aircraft can’t hear each other.

100% is a factor.
 

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