The explanation I saw that the Blackhawk pilot got confused about which airplane he was supposed to be paying attention to kind of brings up the obvious question of “why the hell were they flying through the approach corridor of a major airport?” I normally try to refrain from backseat quarterbacking subjects I don’t have expertise in, but it seems obviously reckless.
You don’t need to be an expert when its so obvious. If I see a derailed train, I don’t need to be a locomotive engineer to know its not supposed to be off the tracks. The helicopter flew into airspace every pilot and non pilot knows you don’t fly into.
Maybe this is some long covid consequence or something. I heard an anecdote on here awhile back that people with long covid are just sitting at stop signs in their cars and getting confused at what to do next.
Add in the fact that most people with long covid don’t even realize they have long covid and we start getting more freak accidents like this.
I’m not saying that’s what this is but who knows it could be
What’s also really dumb is like…you’re a helicopter. You can just sit there and hover. No need to be moving anywhere while planes are taking off. You can literally stop and float, go up or down, backwards…any direction other than forwards (including no direction at all).
This whole thing is like if a person driving a car didn’t know you had brakes or taking your foot off the accelerator slows you down and drove through a four-way stop without stopping.
I don’t understand why we have to have these schlemihls fucking around in hundred million dollar equipment and incinerating a billion gallons of kerosene when surely flight sims are really fucking good in this year of our lord 2025
Sims have come a long way (and they are used for some training) but they’ll never be able to fully replace actual flight time. Obviously they shouldn’t need to be flying in an active approach path, but as long as pilots are a thing they’ll still have to have regular flight hours to keep up with certification and all that. Washington DC airspace is a total mess and the base the heli took off from is across the river from KDCA, and right next to the most common RNAV approach for runway 33 which seems like a horrible spot for training flights.
The explanation I saw that the Blackhawk pilot got confused about which airplane he was supposed to be paying attention to kind of brings up the obvious question of “why the hell were they flying through the approach corridor of a major airport?” I normally try to refrain from backseat quarterbacking subjects I don’t have expertise in, but it seems obviously reckless.
You don’t need to be an expert when its so obvious. If I see a derailed train, I don’t need to be a locomotive engineer to know its not supposed to be off the tracks. The helicopter flew into airspace every pilot and non pilot knows you don’t fly into.
They used airways they were supposed to. They were in DC HELO Route 4.
ah yes i can tell by the lines and such
The lines are a shitshow, of course. DC airways are hellish (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Helicopter_route_chart%2C_Washington%2C_D.C._LOC_90683484.jpg) and confusing, but the thick blue lines are for where helicopters should fly, the circles are for navigation, and the grey lines are roads and such.
oh my god… i always thought it would kick ass to fly a chopper but not if you have to fly like this
You can’t fly a chopper, all you can do is not crash one
Maybe this is some long covid consequence or something. I heard an anecdote on here awhile back that people with long covid are just sitting at stop signs in their cars and getting confused at what to do next.
Add in the fact that most people with long covid don’t even realize they have long covid and we start getting more freak accidents like this.
I’m not saying that’s what this is but who knows it could be
What’s also really dumb is like…you’re a helicopter. You can just sit there and hover. No need to be moving anywhere while planes are taking off. You can literally stop and float, go up or down, backwards…any direction other than forwards (including no direction at all).
This whole thing is like if a person driving a car didn’t know you had brakes or taking your foot off the accelerator slows you down and drove through a four-way stop without stopping.
someone sounds teach Californians about the neat trick of stopping at stop signs
I don’t understand why we have to have these schlemihls fucking around in hundred million dollar equipment and incinerating a billion gallons of kerosene when surely flight sims are really fucking good in this year of our lord 2025
Sims have come a long way (and they are used for some training) but they’ll never be able to fully replace actual flight time. Obviously they shouldn’t need to be flying in an active approach path, but as long as pilots are a thing they’ll still have to have regular flight hours to keep up with certification and all that. Washington DC airspace is a total mess and the base the heli took off from is across the river from KDCA, and right next to the most common RNAV approach for runway 33 which seems like a horrible spot for training flights.