^
In case anybody’s wondering, an American Airlines commercial jet collided with a US military Blackhawk helicopter in mid air near Washington National Airport on Wednesday evening. Both landed in the nearby Potomac River, with multiple fatalities reported.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/worl...eagan-airport/

https://ix.cnn.io/dailygraphics/grap...p.9a0f1774.jpg

Pretty crazy situation. Isn't it supposed to be pretty rare for a mid-air collision to take place?

I dont know shit about aviation but the idea that there is pretty much infinite 3 dimensions of travel makes it really difficult to collide directly in mid air.

I don't see how this could have happened without MASSIVE error from the heli pilot. I'm sure the blame will be flying around from trump today about what group is responsible.

Trump with a spot-on, well controlled, thoughtful response to the disaster expressing his concern for the people who died and their families:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GihMaLsW...jpg&name=large

Nah.

Airspace in densely populated areas do generally have controlled corridors, you generally can't just fly wherever you want in those areas. The simple answer will be that someone flew outside their lane or through the "intersection" so to speak.

Two separate conversations about this so I'm putting it here as well.

Read somewhere that the Blackhawk military helicopter was on a military training flight ??!! ... near Ronald Reagan airport?

Oh boy ... Trump, Pete Hegsmith & JD Vance actually putting a spin on this as part of the problem of DEI. "When we don't have the best and the brightest who are the most competent doing these jobs ... " Blaming Obama, Biden, DEI hiring program.

No empathy from the heartless Cheeto for the families of the people who were killed in this aviation accident. The Grinch of the White House.

What happened to a competent leader who actually asks the FAA (federal aviation administration) to launch an immediate investigation into the accident?
Do fact finding to find out how this accident happened?

There needs to be answers for the families who are affected by this tragedy.

Of course, Dumbass 47 just quickly plays the blame game instead of showing some competency as a real leader.

Looks like Trump and Republicans are wasting no time in placing blame

I see what you did there......................

During the holiday season, when Move 103.5 was an all Xmas music station, The Grinch was played quite often. Every time I heard it, Trump came to mind. His name fits perfectly in the lyrics..........

You're a mean one, Mr. Trump,
You really are a heel!
You're as cuddly as a cactus, You're as charming as an eel, Mr. Trump.
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!
You're a monster, Mr. Trump.
Your heart's an empty hole!
Your brain is full of spiders, You've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Trump.
I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
You're a vile one, Mr. Trump. You have termites in your smile! You have all the tender sweetness Of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Trump.
Given the choice between the two of you I'd take the seasick crocodile!
You're a foul one, Mr. Trump. You're a nasty wasty skunk! Your heart is full of unwashed socks, Your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Trump.
The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote: "Trimp! Tramp! Trump!"


gulololololol..............

Far too early to be assessing any blame, other than potentially on the controllers. In fixed wing aviation the pilot in command sits in the left seat, in a helicopter they sit on the right. Low at night over water can create optical illusions with reflections and lack of depth perception, add difficulty if the helicopter pilots were on goggles. They were both in each others blind spots, last radio call I've seen is the controller asking the Blackhawk if they see the CRJ and to pass behind it. Should have been far more separation created by the controllers, even if they hadn't hit the wake turbulence should have been a consideration.

Traffic Collision Avoidance System's (TCAS) which alert pilots to other aircraft based on their transponders typically do not operate below 1000ft. This goes to show why pilots can NOT always trust ATC nor trust that their directions are being properly followed by other aircraft. You have to keep your scan going in busy airspace. I've had what would have been a fatal NMAC myself in the past.

It's not even 2 weeks into Orangeman's reign and I can't even make it through clips of him talking anymore. Nevermind his politics and lies, he's just so fucking stupid, vocabulary and reasoning ability of a 10 year old at best.

My American aunt and uncle in Arizona say that they miss Biden already lol.

Although Sleepy Joe had issues in terms of his speech, and speaking skills at his advanced age, the former President is much smarter than Number 47.

You never heard Biden on the news EVERY DAY because he was busy doing his job, and getting work done.

It is esp annoying when at least 90% of the nonsense he spews are factually incorrect. Personally, I try my best to operate on facts, and would never knowingly perpetual false information, and I expect the same from official channels. But with Trump, you never get that, and it annoys the hell out of me that someone in his position is basically a lie generator.

And then his staff and other ministers / secretaries would come out to keep toeing the same line while remaining totally ambiguous when news reporters press them on the correctness of the facts as well. I was watching Trump's press secretary last night for something, and I just find it so repulsive that the woman keeps on lying through her teeth / refusing to acknowledge the truth when reporters press her for all the BS factually incorrect things that her Orange boss has spewed. It know it's her job to do this, but I can't understand how people can reconcile with all the lies they tell, in an open public setting that gets broadcasted all over the world.

It takes a special talent to have that level of shamelessness to pull it off, and Trump is an expert on it. It digusts me to no ends, but at least I am not surprised. With everyone else under Trump doing the same thing... I don't know how these people live with themselves, being fully aware that a ton of things they say in public are all lies when they should be the last person to do it.

when he lost in 2020 and also got banned on twitter the internet got sooo quiet for a while it was fucking amazing.

Oh you must have seen him claim that Biden sends $50 million worth of condoms to Hamas every year, and they use them to make bombs

a lot of american culture is built on selfishness and individualism, so it's no surprise that there are some of the extreme members of that type that will say anything for a bigger salary no matter how many people it affects.

I don't know how accurate it is, but the reason people are blaming Trump for at least being partially responsible for the first mid air collision in the US in 16 years is because he spent the first week in office firing the director of the FAA, and then freezing air traffic controller hiring, and then disbanding the Aviation safety advisory committee, and then offering buyouts/early retirement to all FAA employees.

Obviously this would have a drastic negative impact on air safety, but the shocking part is that it happened so soon. In that case it's likely a coincidence. Unfortunately we can't expect a proper fair investigation to ever be done, so this will always be contentious.

On his part, Trump is blaming DEI hires for the accident.

Hmmm I wonder why he's trying to shift blame so quickly

January 20: FAA director fired
January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
January 29: Helicopter/AA Airline plane collision

Rich

That Reagan Airport has always been understaffed though. FAA recommendations call for something like 30 air traffic controllers. They normally only have 19.

Regardless of what happens with Trump, he is always going to try and shift blame to somebody else. He is always right, and it is always someone else that is wrong or incompetent. Case in point, the USMCA was a free trade treaty negotiated under the 1st Trump administration. And now he is blaming us for having a trade imbalance with the US bcos of that very same treaty.

And while we are at it, the 25% tariff is on starting on Saturday. What should we be buying today and tomorrow before prices jump? And I wonder how the Canadian gov is gonna respond to it, now that it is becoming a reality?

I expected face eating jaguars, but I'm surprised the jaguars showed up so fast.

Did you confuse Trump with Hondaracer? :suspicious: :troll:

It's never Trump's fault!

When my cousin flew me around, there were a few heli's by Chilliwack airport, it's almost impossible to collide with someone, we're so tiny in infinte airspace.

Idk if I could even strategically crash into someone if we tried, cause you're floating like jet skis in the air. But you also have to collide at the same altitude