Passenger plane/ Blackhawk helicopter crash into Potomac

[HopperFan]

So incredibly sad. We were watching last night when the news started coming in. At that time, they said while there were casualties, there were confirmed reports of survivors as well. That gave us some hope, but I guess it was bad info. DD16 and DH were supposed to fly into Reagan National earlier this month. Their trip was canceled, but it got me thinking about visits to my DC area friends back in the 90s, how much I hated that part over the Potomac and how it would trigger memories of the 1982 crash. My deepest condolences to all that have been impacted.

My first thought because I went to high school with was one of the survivors.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I hated the way you felt like you were going to land in the river just before touching down on the runway.

I don't think I ever landed or took off from there without some serious windshear. It's a horrible feeling.

 

[Judique]

This is actually in Northern Virginia (just an excruciatingly long drive down I-95 from my part of Virginia), not DC. But still, I hope nobody died and I hope everyone is ok.

The airport is in Northern Virginia but they went into the Potomac River which is part of DC at that point. In that area north of the Wilson Bridge it's mostly DC.

As you go south on the Potomac, it's Virginia and Maryland.

 

[easyas123]

UT how on earth is there no alarm or autopilot something

It's my understanding that there IS a mechanism that sounds the alarm when another airplane enters to close but that on these commercial (and maybe other - I'm not a expert) but that is switches off when a plane decends to close to landing (500 feet I think) in order to keep it from going off due to other planes in the immediate area landing/taking off/being on the tarmac.

Having endured the loss of two family members to a plane crash, I hope the initial impact/resulting crash released all souls to the Great Thereafter immediately.

 

[fla4fun]

Such sad news to wake up to this morning. I don’t see any way it can be anything other than human error, which means it was preventable. That makes it all the more tragic.

 

[sam_gordon]

Such sad news to wake up to this morning. I don’t see any way it can be anything other than human error, which means it was preventable. That makes it all the more tragic.

My guess right now is human error, but it could be something mechanical (one of the pilots tried to avoid the crash but the aircraft didn't react to the control input for some reason).

 

[cabanafrau]

Just awful. Hearing in general terms who the passengers were worries me that we may hear about the loss of parents traveling with a child or two, but perhaps another child or two was left home attending school or off at college and now have lost the rest of their nuclear family. That's just gutting to contemplate.

 

[Disneyland1084]

My cousin is a pilot for American Airlines. Last night I was scared he was the pilot on this flight, but I found out he's safe at home. I still feel bad for all the people that died.

 

[hardcorestitch]

NO SURVIVORS? This is devastating.

 

[Babs Johnson]

The airport is in Northern Virginia but they went into the Potomac River which is part of DC at that point. In that area north of the Wilson Bridge it's mostly DC.

As you go south on the Potomac, it's Virginia and Maryland.

The Potomac River is entirely within Maryland and DC. For whatever reasons way back in colonial times the boundary was placed at the Virginia shoreline, not in the middle of the river.

 

[Judique]

The Potomac River is entirely within Maryland and DC. For whatever reasons way back in colonial times the boundary was placed at the Virginia shoreline, not in the middle of the river.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[_19disnA]

I won't guess on a cause and won't pretend to be an internet NTSB official. There is a good series on the Smithsonian channel that detail several prior crashes over the years and the process they go through to determine probable cause. Show is worth watching if you want to know how they go about doing their work.

In this crash, they are still searching for the black boxes which likely ended up at the bottom of the river. Recovering the wreckage for analysis (i.e. structural or mechanical failure, metal fatigue, etc.) will also take time, none of those things happen instantly with any air crash.

 

[georgina]

DCA is an extremely busy small airport. The Kansas senator even admitted last night that he had lobbied to have this flight added a year ago. Last year members of congress were pushing for more flights for their own convenience, but despite warnings there will be 5 more round trip flights added this year. I fly in/out of this airport several times a year.

https://www.newsweek.com/reagan-airport-more-flights-collision-warning-2023389

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The Potomac River is entirely within Maryland and DC. For whatever reasons way back in colonial times the boundary was placed at the Virginia shoreline, not in the middle of the river.

1632 Charter from King Charles to Lord Baltimore establishing Maryland's border there.

 

[fly girl]

Dh and I have had the news on in the background all day today, this hits home. Always does when any aircrew is lost. Doesn't matter what airline, in times like this we don't care about the livery on the tail.

Crushes my soul knowing they were mere seconds from landing. My heart is with all of those personally hit by this tragedy, the country is grieving with you.

I have faith our NTSB will find the broken links in the chain that caused this catastrophe. And with that said, I pray that the FAA will enact changes based upon those findings.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have faith our NTSB will find the broken links in the chain that caused this catastrophe. And with that said, I pray that the FAA will enact changes based upon those findings.

Amen, FG.

Condolences to you and your husband. 's

 

[Skippy918]

I learned that 14 people from the US Figure Skating team were on this flight. One of the men’s team members lost his parents on this flight. They were coaches.

 

[hrhdhd]

Update in the Wall Street Journal this morning says officials have declared there to be no survivors and that this is the worst aviation disaster on US soil since 9-11. Deepest sympathy to everyone involved, and for your nation.

Trying to keep this thread civil, but September 11 wasn't an aviation disaster. It was a terrorist attack.

Regarding the current crash, reports are that the black boxes from the plane was recovered this evening. From USA Today: "investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane that collided in midair with an Army helicopter"

 

[Minnie1222]

Trying to keep this thread civil, but September 11 wasn't an aviation disaster. It was a terrorist attack.

Removing the human factor, 09/11 was also a disastrous event caused by airplanes.

 

[hrhdhd]

Removing the human factor, 09/11 was also a disastrous event caused by airplanes.

I have no words for this.

Okay, I do. The airplanes caused nothing. Removing the human factor, they'd still be on the ground.