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reagan midair

 

here is an interesting summary
?
?
 

Hi Ann, et al.,

Thank you for sharing that video. IMHO, Juan Browne's 'blancolirio' YouTube channel is the best overall for accident reporting. He did a follow-up to this video the following day:?

In a nutshell, it appears that while there were a number of contributing factors (ATC short handed, night vision goggles, etc....) the root cause was that the helicopter flew well above their allowed airway. The limit was 200 ft, specifically to be clear of jets landing overhead. Just before they struck the CRJ, they were at 350ft and climbing. They collided with the CRJ at about 400ft.?

It has been confirmed that the soldiers were wearing Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) on their training flight.

As someone who participates in the design of Night Vision goggles (as did Nestor), I can confirm that the field of view (FOV) is very much restricted with standard NVGs. Also depth perception is significantly reduced. I've tried walking through woods with NVGs and it's not easy.?

If the pilots had had a thermal channel integrated (and on) with their NVGs (for example the that Nestor and I worked on) they would have certainly seen the thermal signature of the CRJ well in advance.

Cheers,
Mike
On Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 04:57:12 PM EST, Ann Lanzara via groups.io <net3pacer@...> wrote:


here is an interesting summary
?
?
 

As you noted Mike, one primary cause was the helicopter altitude almost 200 ft higher than the route ceiling. ?Perhaps as responsible maybe more is the helicopter pilot reporting traffic in sight and stating he will maintain visual separation. Now we suspect he was looking at the wrong traffic. ?But not to be overlooked is ATC staffing levels at Reagan and EVERYWHERE else are seriously (dangerously) below norm. ?Just because they have let it be that way for years, is no reason to continue.
?
just a personal aside:
?I think it¡¯s nuts they routinely route traffic through and near the short final approach of Reagan runways. Did you see the line up of landing traffic on approach???
 

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I can't believe the helo guys wouldn't have seen the landing lights of the RJ.? They should have been blinding them at close range.? Maybe looking inside at instruments too much,? Mark
?
?
On Friday 01/31/2025 at 9:29 pm, Michael Bellino via groups.io wrote:

Hi Ann, et al.,

Thank you for sharing that video. IMHO, Juan Browne's 'blancolirio' YouTube channel is the best overall for accident reporting. He did a follow-up to this video the following day:?

In a nutshell, it appears that while there were a number of contributing factors (ATC short handed, night vision goggles, etc....) the root cause was that the helicopter flew well above their allowed airway. The limit was 200 ft, specifically to be clear of jets landing overhead. Just before they struck the CRJ, they were at 350ft and climbing. They collided with the CRJ at about 400ft.?

It has been confirmed that the soldiers were wearing Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) on their training flight.

As someone who participates in the design of Night Vision goggles (as did Nestor), I can confirm that the field of view (FOV) is very much restricted with standard NVGs. Also depth perception is significantly reduced. I've tried walking through woods with NVGs and it's not easy.?

If the pilots had had a thermal channel integrated (and on) with their NVGs (for example the that Nestor and I worked on) they would have certainly seen the thermal signature of the CRJ well in advance.

Cheers,
Mike
On Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 04:57:12 PM EST, Ann Lanzara via groups.io <net3pacer@...> wrote:


here is an interesting summary
?
?
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Not sure if all of you have had the chance to hear the full 3:30 min audio clip but I searched for it soon after the accident happened. The long and the short is ATC alerted the Helo 2 times of traffic, first one including the CRJ¡¯s landing runway and type aircraft and the second confirming the type. I find it crazy given the super close separation Tower did not alert the CRJ of the close helo at any point. They were operating on 2 frequencies one for the helicopter traffic and one for the DCA tower. The aircraft couldn¡¯t hear the response of the Blackhawk on the DCA tower frequency but had DC giving the Traffic. Doesn¡¯t really help that they were running intersecting runway approaches and departures with super tight spacing.?

Truly a week of tragedy for aviation.

Blake Shaner

Personal: blakeshaner@...
School: bshaner01@...
CAP: Blake.Shaner@...
Phone: (540)855-4331

¡°Many of life¡¯s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.¡±
¨C Thomas Edison

On Feb 1, 2025, at 9:39?AM, Mark Walker via groups.io <skyview@...> wrote:

? I can't believe the helo guys wouldn't have seen the landing lights of the RJ.? They should have been blinding them at close range.? Maybe looking inside at instruments too much,? Mark
?
?
On Friday 01/31/2025 at 9:29 pm, Michael Bellino via groups.io wrote:
Hi Ann, et al.,

Thank you for sharing that video. IMHO, Juan Browne's 'blancolirio' YouTube channel is the best overall for accident reporting. He did a follow-up to this video the following day:?

In a nutshell, it appears that while there were a number of contributing factors (ATC short handed, night vision goggles, etc....) the root cause was that the helicopter flew well above their allowed airway. The limit was 200 ft, specifically to be clear of jets landing overhead. Just before they struck the CRJ, they were at 350ft and climbing. They collided with the CRJ at about 400ft.?

It has been confirmed that the soldiers were wearing Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) on their training flight.

As someone who participates in the design of Night Vision goggles (as did Nestor), I can confirm that the field of view (FOV) is very much restricted with standard NVGs. Also depth perception is significantly reduced. I've tried walking through woods with NVGs and it's not easy.?

If the pilots had had a thermal channel integrated (and on) with their NVGs (for example the that Nestor and I worked on) they would have certainly seen the thermal signature of the CRJ well in advance.

Cheers,
Mike
On Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 04:57:12 PM EST, Ann Lanzara via groups.io <net3pacer@...> wrote:


here is an interesting summary
?
?
 

The most recent update I heard from the NTSB was that the helicopter had keyed the mic for 0.8s and consequently did not hear the ATC telling them to go behind the CRJ.?

On Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 10:10:16 AM EST, Blake Shaner via groups.io <bshaner01@...> wrote:


Not sure if all of you have had the chance to hear the full 3:30 min audio clip but I searched for it soon after the accident happened. The long and the short is ATC alerted the Helo 2 times of traffic, first one including the CRJ¡¯s landing runway and type aircraft and the second confirming the type. I find it crazy given the super close separation Tower did not alert the CRJ of the close helo at any point. They were operating on 2 frequencies one for the helicopter traffic and one for the DCA tower. The aircraft couldn¡¯t hear the response of the Blackhawk on the DCA tower frequency but had DC giving the Traffic. Doesn¡¯t really help that they were running intersecting runway approaches and departures with super tight spacing.?

Truly a week of tragedy for aviation.

Blake Shaner

Personal: blakeshaner@...
School: bshaner01@...
CAP: Blake.Shaner@...
Phone: (540)855-4331

¡°Many of life¡¯s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.¡±
¨C Thomas Edison

On Feb 1, 2025, at 9:39?AM, Mark Walker via groups.io <skyview@...> wrote:

? I can't believe the helo guys wouldn't have seen the landing lights of the RJ.? They should have been blinding them at close range.? Maybe looking inside at instruments too much,? Mark
?
?
On Friday 01/31/2025 at 9:29 pm, Michael Bellino via groups.io wrote:
Hi Ann, et al.,

Thank you for sharing that video. IMHO, Juan Browne's 'blancolirio' YouTube channel is the best overall for accident reporting. He did a follow-up to this video the following day:?

In a nutshell, it appears that while there were a number of contributing factors (ATC short handed, night vision goggles, etc....) the root cause was that the helicopter flew well above their allowed airway. The limit was 200 ft, specifically to be clear of jets landing overhead. Just before they struck the CRJ, they were at 350ft and climbing. They collided with the CRJ at about 400ft.?

It has been confirmed that the soldiers were wearing Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) on their training flight.

As someone who participates in the design of Night Vision goggles (as did Nestor), I can confirm that the field of view (FOV) is very much restricted with standard NVGs. Also depth perception is significantly reduced. I've tried walking through woods with NVGs and it's not easy.?

If the pilots had had a thermal channel integrated (and on) with their NVGs (for example the that Nestor and I worked on) they would have certainly seen the thermal signature of the CRJ well in advance.

Cheers,
Mike
On Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 04:57:12 PM EST, Ann Lanzara via groups.io <net3pacer@...> wrote:


here is an interesting summary
?
?

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