Some details have emerged. The Army helicopter was cleared by the tower at Reagan to use Route 4 to transit the airspace near Reagan. But it actually flew above 300 ft (Route 4 specifies staying under 200 ft) and was at least half a mile off the approved route laterally when the collision happened. That's a grotesque level of pilot error.

The control tower would normally have two controllers in it until 21:30 local, when commercial traffic drops off. But the supervisor let one of the two leave early, prior to the time of the crash at 21:00, putting the staffing below standard levels. I would imagine that supervisor is about to get a very rude awakening.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Friday, January 31, 2025 - 11:47 am: Edit

My soapbox opinion (so those of you in positions to make such decisions, please feel free to delete it if it, in your opinions, strays to "Out-of-Line" territory) is that we first need to find out WHY it happened, then make the appropriate changes to keep it from ever happening again.

Going anywhere else, be it by POTUS or anyone else, is unacceptable and needs to stop. Now.

There are hurt families who are being used as political footballs right now, and that's the last thing they need.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, January 31, 2025 - 01:33 pm: Edit

Staffing levels are definitely part of why, and staffing policy is also a big question, one the families are asking. We need answers to every question, no matter whose ox gets roasted. But we need a LOT of facts before this is blamed on DEI, and I already said that the president needs to shut the Hell up for now.

By Lawrence Bergen (Lar) on Friday, January 31, 2025 - 03:37 pm: Edit

I was surprised to hear that FAA ATC hiring certification / application requirements have to be achieved by time the candidates are 31 years of age.

Something to do with 25 years minimum for federal retirement benefits and a 56 year age limit on the other side. Anyone know more? Like is 25 years a static number across all Federal departments? Could that be lowered to 20 (-5 years) in order to allow folks to be 36 years old (and increase the pool of qualified candidates)?

Seems like if the problem is work shortage finding ways to include more qualified folks as candidates would be created without lowering the standards and increasing the risk to the citizens.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Friday, January 31, 2025 - 07:57 pm: Edit

56 is the age limit only in certain very limited fields.

Possibly the helicopter pilot saw the plane, but incorrecty assumed it was lined up for the other runway which would have given them enough separation. It's possible as they crew raised their night observation goggles they inadvertently pulled up in height.

As a guess this flight which came down from the Naval Observatory was a training mission for both the crew and the new VP/his security detail for an evacuation from Washington in case of emergency.

By Mike Curtis (Nashvillen) on Friday, January 31, 2025 - 08:13 pm: Edit

A medical transport flight with crew, medical staff, patient, and family has crashed at a high angle into the suburbs of Philadelphia. Large explosion. Many witnesses and large emergency response to the scene.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 12:18 am: Edit

The medical evacuation plane is reported to be a Learjet. The patient was a young Mexican girl from Tijuana who had received life saving treatment and was on the way home. Her mother was with her. There were reportedly two pilots and two medical personnel. One report said all were Mexican citizens.

One report said there were casualties on the ground but other reports could not confirm that. This does seem to be true. Another report said two houses were destroyed. Six people have arrived at a local hospital with various injuries.

The plane appeared to be intact on the way down. The lights were on so it probably was not an electrical failure. The flight manual for that jet notes that if the trim is set incorrectly it will cause an immediate crash when trying to take off. I would have a lot of trouble believing that a pilot who has flown that plane hundreds of times a year could make that mistake, but it’s all speculation at this point.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 01:13 am: Edit

The Philly crash was into a “very dense neighborhood” and caused a fire the size of a city block. There is apparently at least one dead on the ground. A four inch metal fragment went through the window of a diner 400 meters away and hit someone eating supper. He was sent to hospital with minor injuries.

President Trump sent his prayers for the families and praise for the first responders.

Speculation about a pressure loss has been rejected as the plane never got high enough. One report said it was on fire on the way down, something others rejected. It looked on fire to me. An onboard fire might have meant a bird strike or drone collision. It seemed to have inverted as it could not dive that steeply otherwise. A terrorist attack is ridiculous speculation, but novels have been written about attacks on the children of politicians or drug lords. The weather wasn’t bad but there were clouds.

We need to pray that the Law Of Threes doesn’t apply.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 01:53 am: Edit

It is thought that whatever happened was too high to have been a hobby drone. A big drone could get that high but has lights and radar reflectors, so probably not that.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 01:01 pm: Edit

PHILLY CRASH: Latest theories are focusing on the idea that the left engine exploded (bird strike? Maintainance issue?), the left wing stalled, the plane rolled upside down to the left, and the plane entered a 45* dive with no time to recover.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 01:18 pm: Edit

REAGAN CRASH: the helo was coming down the corridor, at that point going slightly west of south, with the jet to his left and coming north. The jet was given a change of runway while on final approach, veered right to line up on runway 33, and made a sharp left turn to heading 330, descending all the time. The helo was too high. Warned about a jet passing from the left to right, the helicopter pilot apparently saw a plane to his right that had just touched down. The helicopter pilot apparently never saw the jet on his left coming across the brightly lit urban area. The jet pilot probably could not see the helicopter against the background city lights. The two collided over the river and went down.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 01:50 pm: Edit

REAGAN CRASH: The helo possibly saw the correct aircraft but thought it was on the track to land at further away runway meaning they would have plenty of time to clear each others path without risk.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 02:53 pm: Edit

REAGAN CRASH: The jet was banking left, so probably never saw the helo right & low as it would have been below the window. Even is the copilot glanced to his right, the helo was probably not in view, never mind "hiding" in the city lights in the background.


Garth L Getgen

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 02:59 pm: Edit

The data recorder from the heli has been found and we will have preliminary reports a few weeks from now.

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 03:59 pm: Edit

With the jet pilot in the left seat in a left bank and the helo pilot in the right seat, then it is possible that neither pilot saw each other until it was pointed out by ATC.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 05:26 pm: Edit

REAGAN CRASH: as a note, the Black Hawk was on a check flight, with two pilots on board (evaluator with over 1,000 hours of flight time, and pilot being checked with over 500 hours).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 07:15 pm: Edit

REAGAN CRASH: the two aircraft were on different frequencies/bands and could not hear each other. Both could hear the tower as it was broadcasting on both UHF and VHF. The military uses UHF for battlefield, passenger jets use VHF for commercial traffic. It is impractical to add VHF to military aircraft. I have to ask could not a hand-held VHF set be temporarily added to helicopters around DC and monitored by the crew chief?

The jet altitude at impact was 325 feet plus or minus 25. That is to the belly of the jet. We do not yet have an altitude for the Blackhawk. The tower radar has the helicopter at 200 feet but that is not a solid number. The NTSB has not yet confirmed the helicopter altitude but hopes to have better data tomorrow. They refused to guess why things are unclear. The helicopter was in the corridor. Other data seems to show the helicopter to be under 200 feet a few seconds before the crash. An aircraft crossing the corridor 125 feet over a crossing helicopter is not ideal and the helicopter was told to slow down and let the jet cross first. The helicopter pilot is thought to have seen the previous jet to land.

The jet cockpit voice recorder announced “traffic, traffic, traffic” shortly before impact. The jet pulled up slightly a split second before the impact. No one knows why.

It is not clear if the helicopter pilots were wearing night vision goggles. They were not on the bodies but could have been dislodged by the collision or water impact.

There were five people in the tower, but there is no information yet as to how many would be a normal crew. One of the five has not yet been interviewed, no one said why.

Only five percent of 2024 reports are completed but that is fairly common for how long reports take.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, February 01, 2025 - 07:26 pm: Edit

US carrier aircraft have hit ISIS targets in Somalia. DOD reported that the previous administration would not approve strikes in time to do them before the targets moved. The current one moved much faster.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Monday, February 03, 2025 - 08:15 am: Edit

Some may see this as a little out there...

Group going around the L.A. area and looking at houses that weren't burned...
Their statement is these houses were equipped with old style analog meters... where buildings and home just next door were fitted with Digital Smart Meters....
The guy talking made some reference to "Lasers" and smart meters.....

Other posts showing the fires run basically along the designated path of the future "High Speed Rail".....

Wild world out there on the WEB......

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, February 03, 2025 - 09:43 am: Edit

Conspiracy theories, anyone? (Some of them have to be true.)

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Monday, February 03, 2025 - 12:41 pm: Edit

Some focus on things that actually matter in the long run while others, even if proven true would have no affect on anyone's life (Flat Earth, Moon Landing etc)......

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Monday, February 03, 2025 - 12:53 pm: Edit

If you haven't heard a good conspiracy theory by noon, start one!

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, February 03, 2025 - 03:17 pm: Edit

Stormy Daniels has been named Secretary of Government Affairs. Her job is to connect people in power positions.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, February 03, 2025 - 11:53 pm: Edit

One conspiracy theory I've seen, and not too far-fetched:

So, in the movie Twisters (spoiler alert) the guy funding some of the storm chasers wanted early damage assessments so he could swoop in and low-ball offer to buy up land, with plans to build McMansions and laugh all the way to the bank.

I;ve seen some suggestions that the same thing may / probably will happen in the burn zones, but also the the government will try for cheap land-grabs to sell later to developer of their choosing.


Garth L. Getgen

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Tuesday, February 04, 2025 - 12:00 am: Edit

The fires were started in order to clear land in order to make room for the 2028 LA Olympics.