As RedState reported, 67 people tragically perished on Wednesday night after a PSA-operated CRJ700 (contracted by American Airlines) collided with a military H-60 Black Hawk helicopter. The former was on final approach to runway 33 into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which sits just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital.
Being a professional pilot, I offered my view of what I think occurred, with the caveat being that the NTSB will ultimately conduct a thorough investigation that could uncover other aspects of the crash. Here’s a bit of what I wrote:
People have noted how bright the landing lights were on the CRJ and asked how the Blackhawk managed to hit it. You have to understand, though, that the video that went viral of the crash was not the angle the helicopter was seeing. It was approaching from the side, and position lights, strobes, and beacons can very easily get lost in a city’s lights.
Secondly, because helicopters climb in a nose-low attitude, the Blackhawk likely did not have a direct visual line of sight to the CRJ. Why did the military crew tell air traffic control they had the traffic in sight? It appears they misidentified a regional jet that was departing, further undermining their situational awareness. For more context, the Blackhawk crew was flying under visual flight rules, which means it was their responsibility to see and avoid any traffic.
To summarize, it appears (though nothing is certain) that the Blackhawk called the wrong traffic in sight and then mistakenly climbed into the regional jet without ever seeing it. That would make this a very tragic case of pilot error.
Long story short, the regional jet was exactly where it should have been. It appears, though it is not certain, that the Black Hawk, which was flying perpendicular to the approach path, had busted altitude, was in a nose-low attitude, and never saw the other aircraft.
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Two new videos are offering more credence to that theory despite some claiming it shows an intentional act. I’ll explain why they are almost certainly wrong momentarily.
That’s hard to watch, but it does offer us some big clues as to what occurred. While some are claiming the fact that the Black Hawk “flies right into” the regional jet as proof it was purposeful, that’s not what the video actually shows.
For one, just as I speculated, the Black Hawk was in a nose-low attitude, which you can see based on where it’s rotor beacon is in relation to the lights on the front of the helicopter. That means their upward visibility was very limited. If they were wearing night-vision goggles, which were reported by the Department of Defense as being on board, it would have been even more so. That’s the first major link in the accident chain.
Secondly, while some keep referencing how bright the landing lights were on the CRJ, those would not be very visible to an aircraft approaching from the side, as the Black Hawk was. That’s especially true on a clear, dry night where there’s not much moisture in the air for the lights to project off of. There is also an enormous amount of light pollution in the background for beacons and strobes to get lost in. From experience, it is very difficult to spot another plane that close to the ground.
Thirdly, and perhaps most telling, is that the regional jet was descending on the final approach path after making its base-to-final turn while the Black Hawk seemed to be in a slight climb (according to the track data). That means the two aircraft were not at the same altitude until the moment of impact. In other words, the regional jet essentially descended into the flight path of the helicopter, with the latter’s crew having little to no upward visibility.
As a point of clarity, the regional jet was where it was supposed to be. The Black Hawk’s flight path was the issue, and it never should have been where it was. Further, given that the helicopter appeared to have called the wrong traffic in sight when warned by air traffic control, it’s also very possible they were distracted and not even looking in the right direction when the collision occurred.
The last question (one President Donald Trump himself has raised) revolves around why the Black Hawk was at the wrong altitude, and there are several possible explanations. You can gain a hundred or so feet of altitude in an aircraft in the blink of an eye. That could happen due to a lack of proficiency. It could also happen due to being distracted. It could even happen if they had the wrong altimeter setting, causing them to believe they were lower than they actually were.
With all that said, how likely is it that they intentionally rammed the regional jet? There were three crew aboard and no signs of a struggle, either over the radio or on the videos with the maneuvering of the helicopter. You’d have to believe all three were in on it, which simply belabors belief.
Lastly, and what makes me all but dismiss the theory, is just how nearly impossible it would be for a pilot to purposely crash a helicopter into another aircraft flying perpendicular to it at least 130 knots. Again, the helicopter never changes its flight path in the videos. The idea that they somehow calculated the exact angle needed without maneuvering at all to nail a jet that had just made a left turn toward the runway and was descending is not believable in the least. You could try to do that a thousand times and probably never get it right.
Everything points to this being a freak accident, and I would encourage people not to give into the engagement bait. Those aboard the Black Hawk may have been at fault for the accident, but they were still service members and human beings. There’s no reason to impugn their character without any evidence.
ADDENDUM: There is a video going around showing “three near-misses,” insinuating the helicopter had tried to ram other aircraft prior to hitting the CRJ700. The people sharing that have no idea what they are looking at. The reason the helicopter is dark orange on the screen is because it’s flying at a few hundred feet above the ground. The other planes are bright yellow because that denotes they are at much higher altitudes, likely at cruise just passing over KDCA. They were nowhere near the Black Hawk.
Be very careful what you buy into from influencers on social media.
