I am a former Black Hawk Helicopter Crew Chief and Flight Instructor.
I know how quickly a routine flight can become a terrible tragedy.
That is why it was so discouraging to hear that the misguided criticism is being put as an investigation into Wednesday evening's deadly crash of an American Airlines forest plane and an American army helicopter above Washington DC is just starting.
Online trolls revolve the conspiracy that this tragedy was somehow intentional. But everyone you tell that this collision is suspected has never been to a cockpit crew in their lives.
Ignore them all. Better yet, the fence mocked out.
I do not claim to know what this horrible accident has caused, but in my experience there is always a combination of factors – a 'perfect storm' of mistakes – and human mistakes are almost certainly counted.
In this incident there are at least three 'teams' to evaluate: the Army Helicopter Crew, the American Airline Pilots and the air traffic control of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
First, there is the Black Hawk -Crew.
I am a former Black Hawk Helicopter Crew Chief and Flight Instructor. I know how quickly a routine flight can become a terrible tragedy. (Shown: Mark McEathron on X as @Mark_Mceathron)
I do not claim to know what this terrible accident has caused, but in my experience there is always a combination of factors – a 'perfect storm' of mistakes – and human mistakes is almost certainly counted. (Shown: Sikorsky UH-60 'Black Hawk' helicopters).
During my six years in the US Army I trained helicopter crew chiefs. It is their responsibility to be the eyes of the pilot and co-pilot, who spend a lot of their time with their attention trained on the plane.
They have to check multiple radio channels and in cities like DC the wireless traffic is constant. There are also instruments for checking, fuel meters to look and checklists to evaluate. All these factors are exacerbated when flying at low heights – as this reported training mission apparently was.
There can indeed be times when all three crew members in the cockpit do not look outside the plane.
That should of course not happen. Pilot and crews should announce and coordinate when we 'come in' or 'go back' outside the plane. But that doesn't always happen.
Plus, even with three trained kites in a cockpit, it is almost impossible to navigate with the naked eye, especially at night.
This is important to keep in mind when you watch the video of this specific crash, which seems to show that the Black Hawk flies directly for the well -lit passenger plane from a long distance.
All kites are confronted with the challenge of optical illusions.
Most people have experienced similar sensations in their daily lives.
If you drive in a car on the road and you look out for the window for trees, they seem to move very quickly in relation to the car, while the hills in the distance seem to move very slowly. In reality it is not at all moving. This is an illusion. Pilots can experience a related phenomenon that is even more extreme.
If the circumstances are good, flying objects can look like they are stationary.
In navigation, the expression 'constantly lower, decreasing range' refers to two aircraft that travel under certain angles, speeds and directions and in the absence of visible reference points.
It is possible for two pilots to fly to each other without knowing one of them.
During my six years in the US Army I trained helicopter crew chiefs. It is their responsibility to be the eyes of the pilot and co-pilot, who spend a lot of their time with their attention trained on the plane. (Depicted: a helicopter flies over the river Potomac).
I am sure that American Airlines forens Airline is illuminated like a Christmas tree. But it may not be important for Black Hawk pilots. In a brightly lit city, such as Washington DC. (Depicted: Response teams respond to the DC -Crash).
This illusion is enlarged at night and in a city, because a pilot may not realize that an apparent stationary light is actually an airplane.
I am sure that American Airlines forens Airline is illuminated like a Christmas tree. But it may not be important for Black Hawk pilots. In a brightly lit city, such as Washington DC.
As far as the airline pilots are concerned, they might not be completely aware of that Blackhawk traveling through their flight path.
These military helicopters are designed to see at night. The red and green lights on the side will get lost in the lights of the city below. The only 'lights' on top of the plane are called 'mucous lights' because they are a very vague green.
Moreover, the commercial pilots at the approach of countries do not look outside their plane.
At that time in the flight they trust their instruments, are led by Radar, check their speed, height and which runway they are instructed to land on.
The AA pilots would be confident on air traffic control to remove the airspace – that clearly did not happen.
Finally, the role of air traffic controllers will be an important focus of every study.
One of the things I didn't like to hear about the recordings of the Air Traffic Control interview in this accident is that the Reagan National Tower de Black Hawk Piloten asked if they just saw the other planes, just a few moments for the collision.
That is not a useful instruction from the perspective of a pilot because they would not know where to look. Perhaps the Black Hawk pilots identified what they thought was the plane in question – but it was another plane that rose at the same time.
As a pilot, for example, I would like to hear: Do you see the plane three miles away from your 11 -hour distance and flying with a hundred feet?
I would like a direction, height and a distance. It seems that these Black Hawk pilots did not receive that information.
You can also hear air traffic control that entertains the Black Hawk to 'go' behind 'the approaching plane, but if the Black Hawk would not see that plane, they would not know where to go.
There are still many unanswered questions. But I know this: 999 from 1000 aircraft incidents are caused by a series of human mistakes.
Nowadays my heart and spirit are with the families of those involved in this tragic event.
