A fatal crash survey at national airports: 5 takeout

It is clear that something was grossly wrong when he collided with an American Airlines regional jet on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing everyone on the plane.

However, one error did not cause the worst domestic crash in the US in nearly a quarter century. Modern aviation is designed to have redundancy and protection measures that prevent failures or some failures. On January 29th, the system collapsed, according to a New York Times investigation.

Until now, attention has focused on the Black Hawk’s altitude, which was too high to place directly on the jet’s landing path. However, The Times revealed new details that show that obstacles are far more complicated than previously understood.

Here are five takeaways from the survey.

The Black Hawk crew failed to effectively implement common but sometimes dangerous aviation practices.

The practice known as flying under the rules of SEE and evasion works just like that. Pilots often aim to see nearby air traffic without assistance from an air traffic controller, and avoid it until traffic passes or by flying around it in a prescribed way.

One of the advantages of SEE and evasion systems is that they can brighten up the controller workload during busy periods. However, in recent decades, looking at and avoiding has proven to be a problem, even fatal. It has also been linked to at least 40 fatal collisions since 2010, according to the National Road Safety Commission.

On the night of the crash, the Black Hawk crew performed the look and did not effectively avoid it. The pilot either failed to detect any particular passenger rock that the controller had flagged, or was unable to turn to a safer position. As a result, they flew directly onto the road of American Airlines Flight 5342 as they tried to land at the National Airport.

Air traffic controllers may have given them an urgent warning rather than the two aircraft converging.

On duty that night, the air traffic controller delegated the Black Hawk crew the primary responsibility to avoid other air traffic, but he continued to monitor the helicopters as his job was needed. However, he did not issue clear and urgent instructions to the Black Hawk to avoid a crash, aviation experts say.

As the two aircraft approached each other, the controller issued instructions to the helicopter crew: passed behind the plane.

Some former military pilots stated that by issuing that order, the controller has gone beyond his duties, particularly under conditions of see and evasion, and that the experienced Black Hawk crew should have known what to do without help.

Still, some regulators and controllers said the controllers could have done more in this case.

He could have told the Black Hawk crew how Flight 5342 was placed and held. (Federal Aviation Bureau) Manual instructions Direct controller to use the time of the clock when explaining where the controller is. ) He could have provided jet distances in miles or feet of voyage from the helicopter.

But one thing is important. If two aircraft are on the collision course, the top priority of the controller must be to warn both pilot sets. “If there’s a high chance that your target will merge, advise your pilot,” the FAA regulations state.

That didn’t happen.

The technology didn’t work as intended.

Radio communication, a proven means of interaction between controllers and pilots, has also collapsed. Some of the controller’s instructions were “intervention.” This means that the helicopter crew was cut off when they pressed the microphone and spoke.

Blackhawk’s technology allows the controller to better track helicopters. I turned off the power. The Black Hawks did not work with this technology due to the confidentiality of the missions their crew had been practicing. This is because the helicopter location is obtained by people who are connected to the internet when the technology is on, and is a potential risk to national security.

As a result, the controller relied on ping from the helicopter’s transponder to display the changing positions on the radar. FAA Documents.

In busy airspace, Michael McCormick, former vice president of FAA Air Transport, said it was a “very long time.”

The routes that the helicopters were flying with the runways used by the jets formed a particularly dangerous combination.

Near the end of his shift, the controller handled both helicopters and commercial jets, calling the complex and potentially dangerous operating controller squeeze play.

According to a veteran national airport administrator, this is an attempt to keep operations running efficiently by firmly sequencing runway traffic with a minimum amount of time between takeoff or landing.

The landing of Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas was considered part of that operation. To pull that apart, the controller clearly decided to land that flight on an unused runway 33, rather than on a commonly used runway 1.

Runway 33 had a quirk. It is a particularly narrow vertical space between the jet’s landing slope and the maximum altitude where helicopters using a particular route called Route 4 can fly.

The vertical distance between the helicopter and the aircraft on its way to land on Runway 33, at its highest near the eastern shore of Potomac, will be 75 feet, NTSB investigators said. However, if the helicopter flew far from the eastern bank of the river towards the airport, that distance would be even less.

It is important that the helicopter is below the maximum altitude of the route, as there is very little margin for error.

The Black Hawks flew higher that night, putting everyone who entered both aircraft in danger.

The Black Hawk pilots did not pay attention to instructions from the co-pilot to change courses.

The mission of the Army crew was to conduct an annual assessment of Colonel Rebecca M. Robach to ensure that her helicopter pilot skills were up to normal.

That night, her mission was to navigate the conditions of a scenario that might require members of Congress or other government officials to be carried out from the country’s capital in the case of an attack. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Lloyd Eves was her instructor.

In the final seconds of impact, the warrant officer told Captain Robach that the air traffic controller wanted her to turn left.

Turning left, there was more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342. It heads towards Runway 33 at an altitude of approximately 300 feet. However, there are no signs that she has turned left. Instead, the helicopter flew directly into the jet.