Air visitors controllers instructed the American Airways pilots to land at a secondary runway at Reagan Airport shortly earlier than a Blackhawk helicopter collided into the plane on Wednesday night.
Reagan Airport has one essential runway. There are two shorter secondary runways that aren’t generally used.
In keeping with The New York Occasions, the pilots have been instructed on the final minute to land at one among Reagan’s secondary runways after they have been initially instructed to land on the principle runway.
This final minute change triggered the pilots to circle round and land on an intersecting runway.
Footage exhibits the helicopter crash into the American Airways airplane because it got here in at a special angle to land on the shorter runway:
Webcam on the Kennedy Heart caught an explosion mid-air throughout the Potomac. https://t.co/v75sxitpH6 pic.twitter.com/HInYdhBYs5
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) January 30, 2025
Moreover, a preliminary FAA report indicated that staffing on the DCA Air Site visitors Management tower was “not regular” on the time of the helicopter-plane collision.
In keeping with NBC Information, on the time of the collision, one controller was overseeing each helicopter and airplane visitors.
Usually, one controller focuses on helicopter exercise.
The New York Occasions reported:
Shortly earlier than an American Airways regional jet and an Military helicopter collided close to Reagan Nationwide Airport on Wednesday night time, the airplane’s pilots have been requested to pivot its touchdown route from one runway to a different, in keeping with an individual briefed on the occasion and dialog overheard on audio recordings of conversations that occurred between an air visitors controller and the pilots.
American Airways Flight 5342, which was en path to Washington from Wichita, Kan., had initially been cleared by the Nationwide Airport visitors management tower to land on the airport’s essential runway, known as Runway 1, the particular person briefed on the occasions and the audio recordings revealed. However within the ultimate moments of the flight, this particular person and these recordings additionally confirmed, the jet pilot was requested by air visitors management to as an alternative make a circle touchdown on a separate, intersecting runway, Runway 33.
That call, in keeping with the one who was briefed on the occasion and two different people who find themselves conversant in the airport’s air visitors, occurs routinely when regional jets just like the American Airways plane are concerned, and will have been made to assist hold air visitors transferring effectively by not clogging the principle runway. It nonetheless raised questions throughout the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday morning about congestion at Nationwide Airport, one of many nation’s busiest, the particular person briefed on the occasion added.
The secondary runway idea was floated earlier this week.
Per a consumer on X:
Having visited the White Home many instances to go to the President…and Kinsey (barf)…heres some early suggestions on this airspace from private expertise.
1st: Reagan has just one major runway which parallels the river (north south). It does have two secondary runways that are far shorter and have a tendency to solely take regional jets.
2nd: From the look of this it seems the airplane was touchdown on the secondary runway from the South, that means it was mainly flying up the Potomac to the North.
third: Simply earlier than touchdown, planes sometimes flip to align with the secondary runway at a low altitude.
4th: That flip takes place to the south east of the airport, an space that tends to have lots of helicopter visitors, together with army helicopters flying from that space.
fifth: The usage of the secondary runway isn’t tremendous frequent, most planes land on the first north south runway.
sixth: The DCA airspace is insanely busy, and flights taking off need to deal with a really strict no fly zone over the Capitol, necessitating the river method from the north and a fast flip when departing to the north.
seventh: Given all these elements, and the actual fact there was a foul close to collision in 2024 due to confusion between the first and secondary runways, I wouldn’t be shocked if the helicopter and airplane overlapped in an space the ATC controller doesn’t give attention to practically as a lot.
Not definitive or inserting blame, however hopefully this helps for individuals who aren’t conversant in the airspace and the dynamics right here.
Having visited the White Home many instances to go to the President…and Kinsey (barf)…heres some early suggestions on this airspace from private expertise.
1st: Reagan has just one major runway which parallels the river (north south). It does have two secondary runways that are… https://t.co/ndIDYzNiWN
— Jack O’Neill (@Jack2LOneill) January 30, 2025
