3w ago

How the Plane and Helicopter Crash in Washington, D.C., Happened: Maps and Graphics

www.nytimes.com How the Plane and Helicopter Crash in Washington, D.C., Happened: Maps and Graphics

An American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army helicopter plunged into the Potomac River after a midair collision Wednesday night near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/17843817

Important context:
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: First American mid-air collision in 16 years
Staffing was not normal at air traffic control

Aviation and Air Travel - News & stories about planes, helicopters, drones, and anything that flies @real.lemmy.fan

oleorun @real.lemmy.fan

3w ago

How the Plane and Helicopter Crash in Washington, D.C., Happened: Maps and Graphics

www.nytimes.com /interactive/2025/01/30/us/washington-dc-plane-crash-helicopter-maps-photos.html

3 0

Civil Aviation @lemmy.zip

stochastic_parrot @sh.itjust.works

3w ago

How the Plane and Helicopter Crash in Washington, D.C., Happened: Maps and Graphics

www.nytimes.com /interactive/2025/01/30/us/washington-dc-plane-crash-helicopter-maps-photos.html

10 0

New York Times gift articles @sopuli.xyz

silence7 @slrpnk.net

3w ago

How the Plane and Helicopter Crash in Washington, D.C., Happened: Maps and Graphics

www.nytimes.com /interactive/2025/01/30/us/washington-dc-plane-crash-helicopter-maps-photos.html

124 20

16 comments

Ironic that it happened at the "Ronald Reagan" airport, named after the guy who once fired thousands of air traffic controllers at once.

You've got massively incompetent idiots whose only goal is to hurt people and steal money in control of these things now. Thanks non-voters!
We'll be lucky if we all make it to 2029 without another million deaths due to incompetence. This isn't a good sign.

Archived link

Being objective, I dont see how this one is a political failing.. Trumps dumb administration decisions didn't cause this.. it looks like pilot error from the helicopter pilot.. it's an accident and a tragedy nothing else.
- "The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one."
  Staffing shortages directly exacerbated by Trumps actions led to an unsafe situation that would not have happened if Trump were not president.
  It's like where theres a fire at a school and someone tries to use a fire extinguisher, but its empty and was never recharged, so the school burns down and 67 people died. Then you find out the new mayor had disbanded and re-foremed the fire department, which usually is in charge of re-charging extinguishers at the school, but the chaos the department went through caused that task to be overlooked.
  The mayor didn't start the fire. But his fucktarded short sighted actions created the scenario that got those 67 people killed.
  
  But if the controller gave the correct instructions, and they were acknowledged and then ignored, having two controllers doesn't prevent the accident. It prevents other accidents.
  The focus should be on military helicopter pilot competence and training.
- You don't want to create situations where pilot error causes loss of multiple aircraft. They did it in part because air traffic control had one person doing two jobs. Doing that is a political decision in the name of "efficiency"
- Leaving out emotion and reading what has been reported has lead me to believe that it was helicopter pilot's fault. What Trump is doing to the FAA is abhorrent and it will cause issues going forward, but I don't see his actions having caused this issue. The air traffic controller DID their job and tried to cofirm that the blackhawk go behind the CBJ. The pilot fucked up.
  This time.

16 comments