Longtime Philadelphia pilot and aviation expert says Reagan Airport crash should have been prevented
Various government agencies will be involved in the investigation to determine what led up to the midair collision Wednesday night at Reagan National Airport.
Experienced pilot and aviation attorney Arthur Wolk told CBS News Philadelphia we don't have midair crashes often in this country because the whole aviation system works in a meticulous fashion, from technology to communication.
He knows from experience how challenging it is to fly around Reagan National Airport simply because of how busy it is.
"When you see all these conflicting lights, you don't know whether these are the landing lights from that airplane you're supposed to go behind. Are they the landing lights from another airplane? Are they not even on an airplane because in Washington, I can't begin to tell you how many billion lights that are out there that are conflicting with your instructions," Wolk said.
He explained that midair crashes are so uncommon thanks in part to TCAS, which stands for Traffic Collision Avoidance System. That system continuously alerts pilots about the whereabouts of surrounding aircraft and directs them to climb or descend, however, it shuts off at 1,000 feet. Air traffic controllers take over from there and direct takeoffs and landings.
In this situation, air traffic control changed the plane's runway, a common practice for a smaller jet like the one involved. However, Wolk says that change could have made the visual harder on the helicopter pilot.
"When there is a runway change, the helicopter pilot, who is looking for a certain sight picture — the landing lights of an approaching aircraft, now may instead not see them anymore because the airplane has now turned perpendicular to him."
The FAA, NTSB and the United States Army will all investigate this incident.
"I don't believe VFR, Visual Flight Rules aircraft or helicopters ought to be flying in the same airspace around major terminals crossing over approach paths to runways. I think that's wrong and that's a recipe for disaster," Wolk told CBS News Philadelphia.
The Department of Defense said it was a "fairly experienced crew" in the helicopter and they were wearing night vision goggles. Wolk said night vision goggles may have actually made it harder to see the plane in the sky because of how lighting can become distorted.
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