Paging Left Seater to the white courtesy phone…

[mvscal]

Besides being balck, did that dude have ANY qualifications that might have made him suitable for the job at FAA?

He is the CEO of Denver International Airport. How did he get that job?

He didn't appear to know much about DIA either. Cruz annihilated him.

[L45B]

He is the CEO of Denver International Airport. How did he get that job?

And yet a 34-time felon, woman rapist, multiple bankruptcied “businessman” and Nazi Socialist of the Fourth Reich is somehow the leader of the free world.

How did he get that job? Shame on you and the countless piles of human excrement who allowed this to happen!

I know Screwey and Diego have my back on this one!!

[Innocent Bystander]

C'mon Donald, this is not the time to rail against the previous regimes.

I too initially agreed his political screed was cringeworthy. However, as facts roll in, maybe there is a THERE THERE.

Staffing Was ‘Not Normal’ at Reagan Airport Tower, According to F.A.A. Report

The report, reviewed by The New York Times, said that one controller was communicating with both helicopters and planes. Those jobs are typically assigned to two people, not one.

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.

The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways.

Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one. This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other.

Like most of the country’s air traffic control facilities, the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for years. The tower there was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30.

The shortage — caused by years of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.

The F.A.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://archive.is/99L4k

Welp, those federal employee buyouts ought to help with staffing.

You have a point. Should have been thirty, only had 19, and the budget barely allowed for those 19?

Why are we giving money to Israel and Ukraine instead of budgeting for the needs of home?

Who's in charge of the budget?

[smackaholic]

The sad thing is that ATC should be way better and way cheaper than it was 40 years ago with today's technology, but, well, it's fed gubmint efficiency for ya.

[StrawMan]

[smackaholic]

This is about the best explanation I have heard yet about what happened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3PtOdR_VCc

Basically, a blackhawk flying at a high speed has a big blindspot dead ahead to anything slightly higher.

He also points out that a 500 hr pilot has no business flying in such a tricky environment.

[Left Seater]

Have you ever travelled thru Denver Airport? It is often one of the worst in the country. Chronically delayed flights, constant reconstruction of the fear house, trains that don’t work, baggage can take an hour to be returned, not enough parking, car rental area adds another hour, etc.

The CEO should be fired and never allowed to run or lead anything above a gas station.

[Carson]

The Denver baggage system was poorly designed to begin with.

Can't speak for the other problems.

[Innocent Bystander]

So she's not tranny. They were trying to hide her because she was a Biden White House aide, instead? Ok. Whatever.

[mvscal]

Have you ever travelled thru Denver Airport?

Every year when I visit family in Oregon. Honestly, I've never had a problem and have enjoyed the stop. Gives one a chance to grab a beer and a bite to eat with a leisurely migration to the next gate. Maybe it's different for business and/or peak season travelers.

[mvscal]

So she's not tranny. They were trying to hide her because she was a Biden White House aide, instead? Ok. Whatever.

She lost her gig as a White House fluffer and now needed stick time that didn't involve a dick in her face. They were trying to hide her to buy time to scrub her social media would be my guess.

[HighHard1]

So she's not tranny. They were trying to hide her because she was a Biden White House aide, instead? Ok. Whatever.

She lost her gig as a White House fluffer and now needed stick time that didn't involve a dick in her face.

Damn, I missed this.

[Mikey]

Missed having a dick in your face?
When and why did you give it up?

[Innocent Bystander]

Brah

[Left Seater]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-r ... 025-01-31/

So the FAA has now closed parts of helicopter routes 1 and 4 near National Airport. This seems overdue.

[Diego in Seattle]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-r ... 025-01-31/

So the FAA has now closed parts of helicopter routes 1 and 4 near National Airport. This seems overdue.

Long overdue.

It looks like the pilot of the UH-60 will be found at fault. But it sounds like sending the Blackhawks through DCA airspace was a disaster waiting to happen.

[Innocent Bystander]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-r ... 025-01-31/

So the FAA has now closed parts of helicopter routes 1 and 4 near National Airport. This seems overdue.

Long overdue.

It looks like the pilot of the UH-60 will be found at fault. But it sounds like sending the Blackhawks through DCA airspace was a disaster waiting to happen.

I'm glad he brought this up: "The crew chief might be conducting a fuel check, where we would also be looking up into the cockpit at the fuel gages and the clock. This CAN lead to moments where all 3 people on the aircraft are all looking inside the aircraft."

Someone else claims they flew without a crew chief on the lefthand side. If there were 3 crew members were there supposed to be four? If 3 is the correct size, what is this dude talking about?

https://youtu.be/TCFj85PFN9A?si=A1bE5oNGZuM9Port

[StrawMan]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-r ... 025-01-31/

So the FAA has now closed parts of helicopter routes 1 and 4 near National Airport. This seems overdue.

Long overdue.

It looks like the pilot of the UH-60 will be found at fault. But it sounds like sending the Blackhawks through DCA airspace was a disaster waiting to happen.

I'm glad he brought this up: "The crew chief might be conducting a fuel check, where we would also be looking up into the cockpit at the fuel gages and the clock. This CAN lead to moments where all 3 people on the aircraft are all looking inside the aircraft."

Someone else claims they flew without a crew chief on the lefthand side. If there were 3 crew members were there supposed to be four? If 3 is the correct size, what is this dude talking about?

https://youtu.be/TCFj85PFN9A?si=A1bE5oNGZuM9Port

My understanding is that 4 is preferred but not mandatory in combat or contested airspace, and 3 is perfectly normal on test or training flights.

I don't have a link for you, but this opinion came from a retired USN Seahawk driver with 1000's of hours on the collective.

He refused to speculate on fault for the collision.

[Left Seater]

I am now hearing unconfirmed information that the American jet increased its pitch just before the collision. This could be a sign that they were attempting to climb right before impact. If this is the case then we will probably hear a call of aircraft or climb or go around.

All speculation based on the unconfirmed info. But it sound plausible. Sadly modern turbofan engines take a bit of time to make power when the power setting is changed. It would take 3 to 5 seconds from recognition to throttle change to actually increasing altitude.

This is why on short runways you feel and hear the engines go to takeoff power before the pilots release the brakes. See also carrier take offs and landings.

[Innocent Bystander]

I am now hearing unconfirmed information that the American jet increased its pitch just before the collision. This could be a sign that they were attempting to climb right before impact. If this is the case then we will probably hear a call of aircraft or climb or go around.

All speculation based on the unconfirmed info. But it sound plausible. Sadly modern turbofan engines take a bit of time to make power when the power setting is changed. It would take 3 to 5 seconds from recognition to throttle change to actually increasing altitude.

This is why on short runways you feel and hear the engines go to takeoff power before the pilots release the brakes. See also carrier take offs and landings.

Here's the leaked video which got two airport employees arrested for releasing it. What does it look like to you?

https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1886572416257650904

[Left Seater]

No way to tell from that.

What I can’t wrap my head around is why were helicopters even allowed anywhere near that area? And if there is some need, why aren’t they at 2500 feet?

I also continue to hear media and public say this just shows the airport has too many flights. That is crap. The airport isn’t overcrowded, instead there was a helicopter that crossed the final approach path of a pax plane.

[HighPlainsGrifter]

What I can’t wrap my head around is why were helicopters even allowed anywhere near that area? And if there is some need, why aren’t they at 2500 feet?

My guess, the Army has a bunch of hotheads lane splitting flight patterns like like yobbos on motorbikes.

[dan's college room mate]

What I can’t wrap my head around is why were helicopters even allowed anywhere near that area? And if there is some need, why aren’t they at 2500 feet?

My guess, the Army has a bunch of hotheads lane splitting flight patterns like like yobbos on motorbikes.

This^^^^.

They’re given vfr permission to pretty much do whatever the fukk they want.

They never should have been anywhere near that area.


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