Large Commercial Aircraft Down

[BinaryMode]

Here's the rewind curiosity of ADS-B Exchange.

633.5 KB file on MEGA

mega.nz

@blantonl As you can see the chopper is just nonchalantly flying South down the river when it met the CJR. I don't see any other aircraft in that area at the time. Way weird. One has to wonder if the crew aboard the Blackhawk were using night vision as well.

The local time of the crash appears to be 20:48.

Edit-

Like the San Diego crash all those years ago that created an FAA rule where you can only go 250 knots or slower at or below 10,000 (unless ATC says otherwise), I have to wonder if another FAA rule will come of this crash and copied the world over.

Edit2-

Note the Blackhawk's squawk source was MLAT. I have to wonder if the TCAS aboard the CRJ picked them up at all if the Blackhawk was using TIS-B?

 

[blantonl]

nonchalantly flying South down

What does that mean? The Blackhawk was on a training flight and they were in contact with the DCA tower the whole time. All airspace in the DC area is positive control which means you are always talking to ATC wherever you are flying. Military, law enforcement, and medical helos transition this airspace all the time and what the flight the Blackhawk was doing is extremely common in that area.

Like the San Diego crash all those years ago that created an FAA rule where you can only go 250 knots or slower at or below 10,000 (unless ATC says otherwise), I have to wonder if another FAA rule will come of this crash and copied the world over.

I really don't know what you are asserting or speculating about here.

Note the Blackhawk's squawk source was MLAT. I have to wonder if the TCAS aboard the CRJ picked them up at all if the Blackhawk was using TIS-B?

TCAS doesn't issue alerts (RAs) below 900 Feet above the ground.

 

[maus92]

I don't understand how something like this could have happened. The helicopter seemed to have the plane in sight. How can you have visual on something and just fly right into it?

I look forward to the NTSB conclusion on this and my condolences to all those involved.

If you have ever flown along the river at night in that area, there is tons of cultural lighting. I can see losing sight of another aircraft momentarily in the lights, and that's all it takes. Also, DC is dense with military and other official helicopter traffic, and most of it stays under the typical approach paths and altitudes for DCA along the Potomac River.

 

[awal]

Tough night for DCFD. It was horrific hearing them finding body parts washing ashore. National Harbor had to close because of body parts drifing that far down river.

 

[andy51edge]

Note the Blackhawk's squawk source was MLAT. I have to wonder if the TCAS aboard the CRJ picked them up at all if the Blackhawk was using TIS-B?

SkyBrary has a good explainer of how TCAS works (although they refer to it by the term ACAS, these terms are interchangeable)

TCAS is independent of ADS-B, TIS-B and all of the new stuff introduced in the last 20 years. A TCAS equipped aircraft will send the interrogation command on 1030 MHz and the other aircraft transponder will reply on 1090 MHz. The interrogating aircraft has a directional antenna to receive the reply and determine the direction of the other aircraft relative to the interrogating aircraft. The distance is determined by the time it takes for the interrogation to go out and the reply to be received.

To be visible to a TCAS equipped aircraft, all the other aircraft needs is a mode A or C transponder. Aircraft equipped with ADS-B out but not mode C are invisible to TCAS system (surprisingly common in Alaska).

From SkyBrary:

Two types of alert can be issued by ACAS II - TA (Traffic Advisory) and RA (Resolution Advisory). The former is intended to assist the pilot in the visual acquisition of the conflicting aircraft and prepare the pilot for a potential RA.

If a risk of collision is established by ACAS II, an RA will be generated. Broadly speaking, RAs tell the pilot the range of vertical speed at which the aircraft should be flown to avoid the threat aircraft. The visual indication of these rates is shown on the flight instruments. It is accompanied by an audible message indicating the intention of the RA. A "Clear of Conflict" message will be generated when the aircraft diverge horizontally.

On the CRJ and most other aircraft equipped with TCAS, below 1,000' above ground level, RAs are inhibited. You will still get the aural "TRAFFIC TRAFFIC" but not the resolution advisory telling the pilots to climb or descend. The intruding aircraft will be displayed as a yellow circle on the moving map display.

BOMBARDIER CRJ-700-900-1000-SERIES - SmartCockpit - Airline training guides, Aviation, Operations, Safety the navigation systems document explains the pilots interface with TCAS.

 

[FedFyrGuy]

CRJ700 hit by helicopter as it aligned with approach to shorter National runway

Investigators are working to understand how a military helicopter collided with a MHIRJ CRJ700 while the regional jet was following a routine sequencing clearance to an alternative runway at Washington National. Pilots of the PSA Airlines aircraft accepted an air traffic control offer to land on...

www.flightglobal.com

 

[andy51edge]

Regional jets using runway 33 is very common. Even with the shorter runway there is still plenty of runway available for aircraft like the CRJ. Changing to runway 33 is mutually beneficial to the crew and the controllers. After landing the CRJ will have a shorter taxi. The controller can give a departing aircraft a line up and wait instruction and after the arrival crosses the runway intersection issue the takeoff clearance, instead of waiting for the arrival to fully vacate the runway.

 

[RaleighGuy]

Trump issued memo ordering review of all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made over the past 4 years.

Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety – The White House

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION SUBJECT:

www.whitehouse.gov