The only time I have flown in and out of Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) was in the spring of 1985 when I was in Winchester Virginia on business, so I am no expert on its operations. Last night I was watching FOX News programs when the news of the crash was shown. Details about the aircraft emerged, and a video showed moments before, during, and after the crash. Emergency response teams arrived promptly, deploying boats into the water and dispatching helicopters to conduct aerial searches for survivors and debris.
I continued watching FOX until 1:00 a.m. when I went to bed. FOX featured experts discussing the airport, surrounding area, aircraft involved, and survival challenges in near-freezing water. The news conference was organized and those providing reports were prepared, but too early to be able to answer every question.
DCA is a busy airport with hundreds of flights in and out daily, very close to the US Capitol. Military helicopters fly over Washington DC many times every day. DCA is not a large airport, but it is used by many of those in Congress. Two runways were in use at the time of the crash, Runway 1 and Runway 33. Another jet was using #1 for a takeoff and the flight controller asked the American Airlines pilot if he could land on #33, which is shorter, and the answer was yes (smaller size jet). The pilot made the adjustment for landing on #33. At the same time, the US Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying behind the AA plane off to its right. The flight controller advised the helicopter about the AA plane and then in a second message he told the helicopter to go behind the AA plane. The large jet had just taken off from the #1 runway and would have been visible to the helicopter.
It appeared in the video that the helicopter hit the AA plane on the side near the rear as the AA plane was coming down preparing to land. Although I have not watched television today, I am confident that multiple parties have been blamed. Could this crash have been avoided – of course, yes. Could the flight controller have done something different – yes. Could the Army pilot have done something different – yes. Could the AA pilot done something different even though he probably did not know about the helicopter – yes. Thousands of flights in and out of DCA every year without any crashes and pilots with many flights with no crash history make each day just routine.
If the timing of the take-off and landing of the two jets were a few seconds more apart, would the AA plane have landed on Runway 1 without issues? If the helicopter had been a few seconds further back or further along its path, would they crashed? If the flight controller had been more concerned earlier about the helicopter pilot seeing the plane landing on the new flight path, would there have been a crash? The term “perfect storm” is sometimes used to describe situations where multiple small things come together producing a terrible outcome when any of them by themself goes un-noticed.
Sixty-seven individuals have died, and their families are now dealing with their loss. Will changes be made because of this disaster, most likely in some form. The politics will not be pretty. The Bible tells us that tomorrow is not promised, and our life could end without notice in a wink of the eye. We will not all die of old age with a chance to make things right. Let this be a wake-up call if you have been putting off making decisions or resolving issues with someone.
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 NIV
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