Latest news with #H-60BlackHawk
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Investigators call for ban on some helicopter flights near DC airport
US air crash investigators have recommended restricting helicopter flights in certain areas near Washington DC's Reagan National Airport following January's deadly mid-air collision. Citing an "intolerable risk to aviation safety", the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged authorities to designate an alternative helicopter route when two runways -15 and 33 - are in use. All 64 people aboard an American Airlines flight and three crew members on an army helicopter died after the mid-air collision on 29 January. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy stated that the separation between helicopters and jets in the area was insufficient, raising the "chances of a mid-air collision". Data used by the NTSB for their preliminary report shows that the proximity between helicopters and aircrafts have triggered at least one alert per month between 2011 and 2024, said Ms Homendy. This data could have been used by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) - the US government agency in charge of civil aviation - to determine if there was a problem. This is "stronger than an oversight", she said. "It shouldn't take tragedy to require immediate action." Ms Homendy also spoke to concerns around air traffic controllers, saying staffing and communications between them is still being investigated. President Donald Trump had earlier suggested without evidence that diversity programmes had played a role in the accident, claiming that the FAA had focused "on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities". The crash happened when an American Airlines flight that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, was coming in for a landing at Reagan National Airport and collided with a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The army helicopter had taken off from Fort Belvoir, close by in Virginia, on a training mission. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River, and rescue attempts proved unsuccessful. 'Woah that was close': Near-miss warning signs ahead of DC plane crash Are planes crashing more often? Teenage skaters, a young pilot and a professor - the victims of DC plane crash Recordings of air traffic control conversations suggest a controller warned the helicopter about the jet, just before the collision. The airport, located just outside Washington DC, is one of the busiest in the US, with nearly 400 daily flights to 98 destinations. Pilots interviewed by the BBC after the crash noted that flying in and out of the small airport, surrounded by restricted airspace, can be challenging. "There are times when we watch planes land and find ourselves thinking, 'Whoa, that was close,'" said pilot Mo Khimji, noting that strong crosswinds can push a plane into restricted airspace "by a whisker" if the pilot is not careful. Additionally, the airspace is shared with various types of aircraft, including Air Force One, which carries the US president, and commercial flights. 'Woah that was close': Near-miss warning signs ahead of DC plane crash Are planes crashing more often? Fact-checking Trump's claims about diversity schemes and the Washington plane crash What we know so far about Washington DC plane crash Teenage skaters, a young pilot and a professor - the victims of DC plane crash
Bloomberg
31-01-2025
- Bloomberg
American Air Plane Black Boxes Recovered: What We Know
An American Airlines regional jet collided with a military helicopter near Washington on Wednesday leaving no survivors. American Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, hit a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter while approaching the runway just before 9 p.m. local time and crashed into the Potomac River close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Bloomberg's Danny Lee gives an overview of what we know so far. (Source: Bloomberg)
Russia Today
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
US ‘in contact' with Russia
The US government has reached out to Moscow regarding the Russian nationals killed in the crash of a civilian airliner and a military helicopter at Washington National Airport, President Donald Trump has said. All 64 passengers and crew members aboard Flight 5342 died when their Bombardier CRJ700 collided with an H-60 Black Hawk helicopter while attempting to land in the US capital on Wednesday evening. Three members of the US military on board the helicopter were also killed. 'We had a Russian contingent – some very talented people – unfortunately on that plane,' Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Thursday. 'Very, very sorry about that.' 'We've already been in contact with Russia,' Trump said in response to a question from the press. He also stated that the US 'will facilitate' the transfer of the remains of any Russian nationals killed in the crash, regardless of the sanctions and flight bans currently in effect. READ MORE: Russian skating stars on board crashed American plane – media The Kremlin later clarified that the 'contact' Trump mentioned did not involve direct communication between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian embassy in Washington expressed its condolences to the American people over the tragedy, adding, 'We were especially saddened to learn from the White House that there were Russian citizens on board the airliner.' 'We are grateful to the American authorities, with whom we are in constant contact, for the words of support expressed to the families of the victims and their readiness to help with the transfer of the remains to their homeland,' the embassy said in a statement on Thursday. It added that it was still awaiting information from the State Department about the Russian nationals who died in the crash. READ MORE: DC plane crash could have been prevented – Trump American Airlines, whose subsidiary PSA operated Flight 5342, has not yet released the names of the crew or passengers. However, some victims have been identified through social media posts and interviews with family members and friends. Many of the passengers were athletes, coaches, and family members returning from the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. Among them were Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, the 1994 world champion figure skaters and former Russian Olympians who moved to the US in 1998 and worked as coaches. Former Soviet professional skater Inna Volyanskaya was also confirmed to have been on board by Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, a Virginia Democrat, in whose district she lived. READ MORE: Passenger plane with 64 on board collides with US Army helicopter (VIDEOS) The Trump administration has pledged to conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the causes of Wednesday's tragedy. The US president has suggested possible errors by the helicopter crew or air traffic control at Ronald Reagan National Airport, citing videos that captured the crash.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Army sec nominee questions whether military pilots should train near DC airport
Army secretary nominee Daniel Driscoll questioned whether Army helicopters should be flying training missions in one of the nation's most congested flight paths after Wednesday's tragic Washington, D.C.-area collision. "It's an accident that seems to be preventable," Driscoll, an Army veteran, said during a Thursday confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee. "There are appropriate times to take risk and inappropriate times to take risk," he said. "I think we need to look at where is an appropriate time to take training risk, and it may not be at an airport like Reagan." Sixty-four people were aboard the American Airlines flight inbound from Wichita, Kan., which collided with an Army Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter just before it was set to touch down at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. Authorities do not believe anyone survived. Black Hawk Chopper Unit Was On Annual Proficiency Training Flight, Hegseth Says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed the three soldiers who were aboard the chopper were a "fairly experienced crew" doing a "required annual night evaluation." Read On The Fox News App "We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the quarter at the right altitude at the time of the incident," he said. In a blunt Truth Social post, President Donald Trump called the crash "a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented." American Figure Skater Says He Was Barred From Flight That Collided With Army Helicopter "The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time," Trump wrote. "It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane." Ronald Reagan Washington National, an airport owned by the federal government, has been the subject of debate for years. It has one of the shortest runways in the industry, yet Congress approved additional flight slots in 2024 as part of its Federal Aviation Administration bill. The flight from Wichita, Kan., had just been added in 2024. The airport faces complicated aviation logistics near hyperprotected airspace near the Pentagon, White House and Capitol, but lawmakers have pushed to keep it open due to the convenience of its proximity to D.C. "We're gonna have to work together to make sure that never happens again," Driscoll said in his Thursday confirmation hearing, promising to take a hard look at what training was needed, particularly amid the Army's increased use of its vertical lift aircraft. Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked a helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight, according to air traffic control audio. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later, saying "PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ" — apparently telling the chopper to wait for the Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet to pass. There was no reply, according to the audio. Seconds after that, the aircraft collided. Military helicopters regularly cross over the D.C.-area airport's flight paths to ferry senior government officials over the Potomac River into D.C. No senior officials were on board the downed Black Hawk, according to the Army. Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Army sec nominee questions whether military pilots should train near DC airport
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Here's What Air Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems Can And Can't Do
Yesterday's tragic mid-air collision between an American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jetliner and a U.S. Army H-60 Black Hawk helicopter close to Reagan National Airport, near Washington, D.C., has led to many questions about the role played by the Traffic Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS. While you can read our report of the incident here, it should be restated that, at this early stage we have no clue as to exactly what might have gone wrong. In the meantime, however, it's worth looking at TCAS in more detail, and, especially, what it can and can't do to prevent mid-air collisions. Fundamentally, TCAS exists to help maintain separation between aircraft while they are flying. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which regulates international air transport, aircraft need a minimum of 1,000 feet of vertical separation at the point at which their paths cross, provided they are flying at 29,000 feet or below, under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Flying above 29,000 feet, the separation requirement increases to 2,000 feet or greater, although there are some exceptions, in specific busy air the most part, the responsibility for ensuring this vertical separation — and therefore removing the chance of a collision — falls upon the relevant air traffic control authorities and, in some cases, the aircrew. TCAS exists, above all, as a backup to this, providing the aircraft crew with a warning that is independent of aircraft navigation equipment and ground-based systems. TCAS emerged from the lessons learned from a much earlier fatal collision, the 1956 accident involving a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 and a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. This led to an overhaul of how air traffic control was operated in the United States. In particular, there was recognition of the need for a backup collision avoidance system that could operate even if air traffic control failed. Early efforts during the late 1950s and early 1960s focused on passive and non-cooperating systems, but over the years, the TCAS concept has been considerably refined, and this collision-avoidance aid is now a fundamental part of aircraft operations not only in the United States but also around the world. A major development in the 1970s concerned the emergence of the Beacon Collision Avoidance System (BCAS), using Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) transponders that began to be installed in large numbers of airliners, military aircraft, and also general aviation aircraft. In 1978, the collision between a light aircraft and an airliner over San Diego spurred efforts to refine this technology, leading to TCAS II, the development of which began in 1981. This built on BCAS, providing the same kind of transponder-based interrogation and tracking, but adding some additional TCAS works using transponder signals from nearby aircraft, meaning it's independent of air traffic control, but also that it requires aircraft with transponders fitted and switched on in order to function. Using the transponder signals, the system builds a three-dimensional map of the surrounding airspace, with aircraft movements plotted within this. Based on respective aircraft and flight paths, speeds, and altitudes, TCAS then automatically provides the crews with an alert of a possible mid-air collision danger. In some modern airliners, the process of avoiding action will be taken without any pilot action, using a technology known as auto-TCAS. The crews of the aircraft in question will receive an audible and visible warning, directing them to take the appropriate action: either climbing or descending to avoid a potential collision. For various reasons, however, and especially in the case of the collision at Reagan National Airport, TCAS is not a major guarantee of flight safety across all parts of an aircraft's flight profile. To begin with, the H-60 Black Hawk wouldn't necessarily have had TCAS fitted to start with, although it is an option for the Black Hawk. ICAO demands that TCAS be fitted to an aircraft that has a capacity of more than 19 passengers or a maximum takeoff weight of more than 5,700 kilograms, but these regulations only cover civil aviation and apply specifically to fixed-wing, turbine-powered aircraft. It's worth noting that, despite this, TCAS is also found on military aircraft, especially larger ones, such as tankers and transports. An added impetus for this came after the mid-air collision between a German Luftwaffe Tupolev Tu-154 and a U.S. Air Force C-141 StarLifter, off the coast of Namibia in September 1997. Furthermore, TCAS is intended to ensure flight safety at higher altitudes, thereby reinforcing the requirement to maintain at least 1,000 feet of vertical separation — or more, depending on flight level. For aircraft operating at lower altitudes, TCAS is inhibited. Specifically, 'Increase Descent' warnings are inhibited below 1,550 feet AGL, 'Descend' warnings are inhibited below 1,100 feet AGL, and all types of warnings are inhibited below 1,000 feet AGL. Terrain and other obstacles can also interfere with transponder signals during very low-level flight. There is a key safety reason behind these limitations, namely that providing warnings at lower altitudes could result in aircraft crews making rapid maneuvers, which could be very dangerous during low and slow flight. For example, a flight crew receiving a 'Descend' warning at low level could quickly take action that would end up with the aircraft flying into terrain. In these situations, therefore, TCAS isn't used to ensure collision avoidance. Initial reports suggest that Flight 5342 and the Black Hawk helicopter collided at an altitude of somewhere between 200 feet and around 400 feet, although this is not confirmed. Moreover, even at flight levels in which TCAS is engaged and is working as intended, the system is not foolproof. In one tragic example, in 2002, a Tupolev Tu-154 and a Boeing 757 collided over southwest Germany, killing 71. An investigation found that, although they received TCAS warnings, the crew of the Tu-154 relied instead on contradictory instructions from air traffic control, leading to a collision. There have also been incidents of mid-air collision in recent years in which TCAS has not provided warnings since one or more of the aircraft involved were flying without their transponders activated. Since the accident yesterday, there's been much speculation about what might have exactly happened and questions have been asked about whether TCAS could have prevented it. Again, we really have no idea at this point what happened or what role TCAS did or didn't play. Regardless, even when aircraft are fitted with fully functional Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems, these will not necessarily prevent or even warn of a mid-air collision, especially at low altitude. In the meantime, we will have to await more official information before we can better understand what might have gone wrong. Contact the author: thomas@
