Blackhawk Helicopter Might Have Been on an Unapproved Route Before Crash at Reagan Airport

As details were pouring in about the air disaster at Reagan National Airport, there’s been a lot of speculation and horror over the mid-air collision: an American Airlines flight from Kansas crashed into a Blackhawk helicopter on approach. There are no survivors. All 67 people onboard the aircraft and the chopper perished.

There have indeed been many close calls at Reagan. There’s too much congestion, with differing flight patterns that likely contributed to Wednesday night’s disaster. We’re learning that the Blackhawk helicopter might have been on an unapproved route before the crash. There was also only one controller in the tower doing the work of two people. There should have been at least two people handling the traffic. The conditions in the tower were described as “not normal” (via NYT): 

An Army helicopter may have deviated from its approved flight path before its deadly collision with an American Airlines jet over the Potomac River, the latest details to emerge as investigators combed the crash site for clues. 

The collision happened on Wednesday night as the plane approached Reagan National Airport, where staffing at the air traffic control tower was “not normal,” according to a preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration. 

The crash killed 67 people whose bodies were being recovered from the icy waters of the Potomac in a massive search operation. 

Details about the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter’s final location indicated that it was not on its approved route and flying higher above the ground as it traversed the busy airspace just outside the nation’s capital, according to four people briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly. 

The internal F.A.A. report, which was reviewed by The New York Times, said the controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity on Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways — jobs typically assigned to two different controllers. A supervisor combined those duties sometime before 9:30 p.m. and allowed one controller to leave, according to a person briefed on the staffing, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

We’ll keep you updated. 

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