Air visitors controllers informed 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 major runway. There are two shorter secondary runways that aren’t generally used.
In line with The New York Instances, the pilots had been informed on the final minute to land at one among Reagan’s secondary runways after they had been initially informed to land on the principle runway.
This final minute change precipitated 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 line with NBC News, 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 Instances reported:
Shortly earlier than an American Airways regional jet and an Military helicopter collided close to Reagan Nationwide Airport on Wednesday evening, the airplane’s pilots had been requested to pivot its touchdown route from one runway to a different, in response to 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 major runway, known as Runway 1, the particular person briefed on the occasions and the audio recordings revealed. However within the remaining moments of the flight, this particular person and these recordings additionally confirmed, the jet pilot was requested by air visitors management to as a substitute make a circle touchdown on a separate, intersecting runway, Runway 33.
That call, in response to the one that was briefed on the occasion and two different people who find themselves acquainted with 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 maintain air visitors shifting effectively by not clogging the principle runway. It nonetheless raised questions inside 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 principle 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 only one main 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 principally flying up the Potomac to the North.
third: Simply earlier than touchdown, planes usually 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 a number of helicopter visitors, together with navy 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 strategy from the north and a fast flip when departing to the north.
seventh: Given all these elements, and the actual fact there was a nasty 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 concentrate on almost as a lot.
Not definitive or putting blame, however hopefully this helps for many who aren’t acquainted with 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 only one main 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
