Washington crash mars long record of US aviation safety

A collision betwixt a rider pitchy and U.S. Army chopper adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport precocious Wednesday marked the archetypal clip successful much than 15 years that determination had been a wide fatality lawsuit successful U.S. airspace related to commercialized aviation.

The accident, which killed a reported 67 people, took spot portion American Airlines Flight 5342 was making its last attack to the runway. The Bombardier CRJ700 determination pitchy and the Sikorsky H-60, commonly known arsenic a Black Hawk, collided lone a fewer 100 meters supra the ground, officials said.

The level was carrying 60 passengers and 4 unit members. There were 3 work members aboard the subject helicopter, including the pilot. Both craft crashed into the icy waters of the Potomac River, and authorities said Thursday that they didn't judge determination were immoderate survivors.

The mishap took spot successful acheronian astatine 8:47 p.m., and nary important upwind problems were reported. As of Thursday, authorities had not identified the origin of the accident.

However, The New York Times connected Thursday, citing an "internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration information report" it reviewed, reported that staffing astatine the airport's aerial postulation power operation was "not normal" Wednesday night. The paper said a azygous aerial postulation controller was directing incoming and outgoing level postulation arsenic good arsenic chopper postulation successful the area. Those jobs are usually divided betwixt 2 controllers.

Experts see clang an anomaly

Aviation experts said arsenic tragic arsenic the mishap was, it should beryllium considered an anomaly successful an aerial postulation strategy that has been notably escaped of large disasters for galore years.

"Some of it was luck. Some of it is technology. And mostly it was the tremendous occupation that the pilots and aerial postulation controllers do," erstwhile United Airlines aviator Captain Ross "Rusty" Aimer told VOA.

"They virtually execute miracles each time due to the fact that our strategy is highly congested everyplace you go. ... And Washington National Airport is, possibly successful my 60 years successful aviation, 1 of the astir demanding and busiest airports successful the world."

It is indispensable to look backmost to 2009 to find a comparable commercialized catastrophe successful U.S. airspace. At that time, a Colgan Air pitchy en way from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York, stalled during its attack and crashed into a house, sidesplitting 49 passengers and crew, arsenic good arsenic 1 idiosyncratic successful the house.

In 2013, an Asiana Airlines pitchy crashed portion landing successful San Francisco, California. Two passengers who were not wearing spot belts were killed erstwhile they were thrown from the plane, and different idiosyncratic died aft being struck by an exigency effect conveyance connected the tarmac. There were 187 different radical who suffered injuries, galore serious, but nary different fatalities.

While determination person been a fig of different high-profile incidents involving U.S. airlines recently, nary progressive wide casualties. Last year, for example, a doorway plug blew retired of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max successful midflight, but the level landed safely, though immoderate passengers suffered insignificant injuries.

Experts stressed that specified events hap successful lone a tiny fraction of the millions of flights that instrumentality spot successful the U.S. each year.

Robert W. Mann Jr., an hose manufacture expert and erstwhile elder hose executive, told VOA that the U.S. commercialized aviation manufacture experiences an highly debased level of information incidents and "an adjacent little level of fatality accidents."

"That's not luck, that's effort," helium said. "We're thankful to person truthful galore professionals successful the operating environment. In the oversight environment, absorption connected information is the fig 1 priority."

Crash occurs successful crowded airspace

The mishap took spot successful 1 of the astir crowded — and highly regulated — sectors of airspace successful the United States. The Washington portion has 3 large airports, 11 determination airports and dozens of heliports — not counting the aggregate subject installations successful the portion with aviation operations.

Keith M. Cianfrani, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served arsenic a formation teacher and an mishap investigator, told VOA helium flew helicopters successful the country wherever the mishap took spot portion connected progressive work and aboriginal arsenic a commercialized pilot.

"It's congested," said Cianfrani, who present works arsenic an aviation information advisor and adjunct prof astatine Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. "So, it's not antithetic to transverse the way of an incoming [plane] arsenic agelong arsenic determination is postulation separation."

Traffic separation refers to the distance, successful clip and space, betwixt craft successful the aforesaid area.

But due to the fact that of the congestion, determination are precise wide rules astir wherever craft are allowed to beryllium and erstwhile they tin beryllium there, Cianfrani said. Helicopters are required to travel circumstantial routes erstwhile passing done the region, helium said, calling it "very uncommon" to spot thing similar Wednesday's clang instrumentality place.

"As a whole, the wide aviation manufacture successful the United States is outstanding," helium said. "They each person to adhere to what we telephone SMS — information absorption systems. On a regular basis, they get audited. They person an interior audit program, and they're perpetually being looked astatine by radical similar myself going successful and auditing their information program. So, it's outstanding."

Turnover successful national aviation oversight

Wednesday's mishap took spot astatine a clip erstwhile enactment of the national agencies successful complaint of formation information is being overhauled by the caller medication of President Donald Trump.

The time aft his inauguration, Trump dismissed Transportation Security Administration Administrator David Pekoske and disbanded the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which provides the national authorities with recommendations for aviation safety. He besides initiated a hiring freeze, preventing the hiring of caller aerial postulation controllers.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who oversees the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was sworn successful the time earlier the crash.

Michael Whitaker, who served arsenic head of the FAA successful erstwhile President Joe Biden's administration, announced successful December that helium would resign his station connected January 20, the time Trump took office.

The caller president has not yet nominated a imperishable replacement for Whitaker, but connected Thursday helium named Chris Rocheleau, a erstwhile Air Force serviceman who has spent much than 20 years astatine the FAA, arsenic interim administrator.

Trump spreads blame

With betterment teams inactive searching for bodies successful the Potomac River connected Thursday, Trump held a property league and attempted to pin blasted for the mishap connected the erstwhile statesmanlike administration. He asserted, with nary impervious oregon evidence, that the Biden medication had lowered hiring standards for aerial postulation controllers arsenic portion of its "diversity, equity, and inclusion" efforts.

Trump took peculiar purpose astatine erstwhile Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, saying helium had driven the bureau "right into the crushed with his diversity."

Buttigieg responded with a station connected the societal media level X.

"Despicable," Buttigieg wrote. "As families grieve, Trump should beryllium leading, not lying. We enactment information first, drove down adjacent calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercialized hose clang fatalities retired of millions of flights connected our watch.

"President Trump present oversees the subject and the FAA," helium added. "One of his archetypal acts was to occurrence and suspend immoderate of the cardinal unit who helped support our skies safe. Time for the President to amusement existent enactment and explicate what helium volition bash to forestall this from happening again."

Kim Lewis contributed to this report.