Posts by user "RatherBeFlying" [Posts: 17 Total up-votes: 15 Page: 1 of 1]ΒΆ

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RatherBeFlying
January 30, 2025, 19:20:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11817562
ATC in the tower would be unable to visually verify separation at that distance.

The earlier radar replay, if confirmed real, raises the question of whether it was monitored by anybody able to warn in time

Subjects ATC  Radar  Separation (ALL)

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RatherBeFlying
February 01, 2025, 20:50:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11819292
  1. Thanks to Henra for reminding us that the ATC radar displays altitudes to the nearest 100 \xb150'
  2. The nytimes.com images of heli positions outside the depicted corridors posted by fdr in #578 is massive evidence of normalisation of deviance
  3. I am beginning to suspect that the CAs noted by the controller are a commonplace occurrence. It would be interesting to learn the frequency of DCA CAs between the helicopters and traffic on approach and departure. How much and how long has deviance been normalized?
  4. The CRJ crew was left out of the information loop. I have a dedicated traffic display on the top of my glider panel which shows ADS-B and Flarm traffic. A similar display would have enabled the CRJ crew to monitor traffic and get the hell out of the way when necessary.

Subjects ADSB (All)  ATC  CRJ  DCA  Radar

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RatherBeFlying
February 01, 2025, 21:17:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11819306
Are you sure that they didn't have the traffic on their display?
We have to wait for the NTSB to let us know what, if any, traffic appeared where on the CRJ panel, how prominent it appeared, or if there were aural warnings.

I have received warnings and an alarm for Flarm traffic. When I have seen ADS-B traffic I have been able to stay far enough away that I haven't been able to verify whether warnings and alarms are provided for ADS-B traffic if it becomes a threat.

Subjects ADSB (All)  CRJ  NTSB

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RatherBeFlying
February 10, 2025, 20:17:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11825695
I suspect the NYTimes simulation did not adjust the helicopter heading for crosswind drift correction + the wind aloft could easily be double the DCA reported wind.

The CRJ FDR should allow the NTSB to determine the wind aloft at time of collision.

Subjects CRJ  DCA  NTSB

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RatherBeFlying
February 15, 2025, 17:25:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11828732
I believe radalts are configured to display height above gear; so add ≈16' height of Blackhawk to 278' yielding 294'. Then there's rotor bowing, and how much higher will the tail rotor arc be at the speed the helo was flying?

Likely the Kollsman settings will be recoverable. Barometric altimeters used in VFR can be way off, but transponder calibration depends on a calibrated altimeter. The NTSB will be looking at maintenance records.

Subjects Blackhawk (H-60)  NTSB  VFR

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RatherBeFlying
February 16, 2025, 04:46:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11828977
Excerpt from Feb 14 NTSB Briefing Points on Mid-Air Collision near DCA
• At 8:47:52, or 7 seconds before impact, the CRJ rolled out on final for runway 33. The CRJ was at a radio altitude of 344 ft, 143 kts.
• At 8:47:58, or 1 second before impact, the CRJ began to increase its pitch, reaching about 9 degrees nose up at the time of collision. FDR data showed the CRJ elevators were deflected near their maximum nose up travel .
• The last radio altitude recorded for the CRJ was 313 ft and was recorded two seconds prior to the collision. The CRJ pitch at this time was, again, 9 degrees nose up, and roll was 11 degrees left wing down. The CRJ was descending at 448 feet per minute.
• The radio altitude of the Blackhawk at the time of the collision was 278 feet and had been steady for the previous 5 seconds. The Blackhawk pitch at the time of the collision was about a half degree nose up with a left roll of 1.6 degrees. Examination of wreckage will assist in determination of the exact angle of the collision.
So nothing yet reported on the CRJ CVR when maximum elevator was applied.
I was once stopped at a red light, began rolling when the light turned green - and suddenly found myself on the brakes before I was conscious of the car running the red light. Possibly a CRJ pilot similarly caught the helo in peripheral vision and reacted subconsciously.
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Last edited by RatherBeFlying; 16th February 2025 at 04:50 . Reason: Formatting

Subjects Blackhawk (H-60)  CRJ  DCA  NTSB

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RatherBeFlying
March 14, 2025, 00:10:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11847107
15,000 Loss of Separation Incidents without Response
And that's not counting inhibited TA/RAs at low level ​​​​​​

NASA and company safety departments may be collecting and shelving reports, but shouldn't there be a central collation to enable identification of hot spots so they can be mitigated?

Subjects Hot Spots

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RatherBeFlying
March 14, 2025, 01:50:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11847138
There is one already, been operating for years. https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:1::::::
Nice to hear about ASIAS, but:
  • who's contributing data?
  • who's keeping an eye on the data trends and developing threats?

Subjects: None

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RatherBeFlying
April 21, 2025, 16:55:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11871078
As earlier mentioned, TAs (Tower and TCAS) may among other incidents and excursions find their way into databases including ASIAS. Once the NTSB dug into the databases, it came up with a long history of losses of separation at a frequency that makes one wonder that such an accident hadn't happened earlier. I suspect that this is not solely a DCA problem.

But who should be watching the data for trends - individual regionals, individual majors, local military, local ATC, individual airport authorities, FAA, NTSB?

Subjects ATC  DCA  FAA  NTSB  Separation (ALL)  TCAS (All)

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RatherBeFlying
April 28, 2025, 17:01:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11874923
"Incompetence" at many levels
Both crews were set up to fail. Considering the near monthly DCA conflicts between helos and fixed wing over a number of years, the surprise is that a midair didn't happen sooner. The data was accumulating, but nobody caught on in time. Not transmitting ADS-B Out in busy airspace and flying in that airspace with night vision goggles restricting view is a major factor. The lack of ADS-B In in the cockpits is another. Then there's the FAA approval of a helo route with inadequate vertical separation from the 33 approach slope along with a lack of ATC procedure to ensure positive separation between helos and aircraft on approach to 33.

Somehow I doubt that all those responsible for those lapses in oversight were female - quite possibly they were all male.

Subjects ADSB (All)  ADSB In  ADSB Out  ATC  DCA  FAA  Separation (ALL)  Vertical Separation

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RatherBeFlying
May 03, 2025, 01:51:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11877495
There were 16 Limas including the accident helicopter, which we’re still looking at. Seven were transmitting when ADS-B Out was turned ON; eight were not and stopped doing so something between May and November 2023.
The glider community uses PowerFLARM which can alert to conflicting traffic - provided it's working.

​​​​​​​I know of three collisions between PowerFLARM equipped aircraft where the PowerFLARM in one aircraft was not operating - in one case fatal to the instructor and student .

Subjects ADSB (All)  ADSB Out

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RatherBeFlying
May 14, 2025, 19:02:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11883977
Air traffic control \x91hotline\x92 between Pentagon and Reagan Washington National Airport has been broken since 2022


The FAA was not aware the direct line was broken until a May 1 incident where a helicopter circled the Pentagon and caused two flights to abort landings, Franklin McIntosh, the FAA\x92s deputy chief operating officer testified.

Subjects FAA

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RatherBeFlying
August 09, 2025, 14:57:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11935746
Military Helicopter vs Civil Altimeter Requirements
Most of us are thoroughly familiar with the civil requirements for altimeter and transponder calibration, including allowable error.

But it seems military helicopters are not subject to the civil requirements - which is acceptable until these helicopters enter civil regulated airspace where heretofore unexamined databases show a litany of CAs that were neglected.

Static port issues in rotor downwash seem to produce significant altimeter errors.

Subjects: None

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RatherBeFlying
September 27, 2025, 16:33:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11960646
I think the point here is that, had the 5342 pilots followed PSA procedures (i.e., not accepting an approach that wasn’t previously briefed), they would have refused the circle 33 offer by ATC, thereby avoiding the accident.
The airline lawyers will point to the many ignored near miss reports in arguing that this accident was waiting to happen and that it was just luck that this accident didn't happen sooner.

The plaintiff lawyers would have a better argument against the airline if they had deviated from the approach.
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Subjects ATC  Accident Waiting to Happen  Close Calls  PSA Procedures

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RatherBeFlying
September 28, 2025, 03:33:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11960849
I understand the plaintiff's argument to be, if this was "an accident waiting to happen", it was negligent/reckless of the airline to expose passengers to that risk.
​​​​​​The argument would rely upon the defendant knowing or ought to have known that the accident was waiting to happen. The FAA had the database, but failed to act upon the accumulation of near miss reports.

​​​​​​​It's more difficult to argue that the airlines should have been doing FAA's job for them.

Subjects Accident Waiting to Happen  Close Calls  FAA

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RatherBeFlying
October 17, 2025, 21:29:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11971770
What load of codswallop. Now we'll have every dogsbody pilot peering at their ADS-B In screens and asking ATC "is that return going to miss us?". TCAS does not require ADS-B, only a transponder (Mode S best). ADS-B In in busy CTAs/zones will be a distracting nightmare for crews.
Having had ADS-B traffic displayed in my cockpit for over the last decade, I beg to report it has vastly reduced the urgency of necessary avoidance of conflicting CAT since I can now deal with them several miles away.

For one example before ADS-B display, ATC once dumped me in front of CAT that required a 90\xb1\xb0 bank to avoid. There were other interesting encounters with CAT in Class E - no longer.
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As we saw here, ATC can fall short and altitudes can be missed. An ADS-B display is a valuable backstop - for a small fraction of the cost of TCAS.

Subjects ADSB (All)  ADSB In  ATC  TCAS (All)

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RatherBeFlying
October 18, 2025, 16:48:00 GMT
permalink Post: 11972131
Last August, a forestry helo announced it was transiting north of our field (they are regularly moving firefighters back and forth) and a helo symbol appeared on my traffic display. We were getting cozy with little altitude difference and I maneuvered to stay well clear.

Subjects: None

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