Plane experts query how collision happened in ‘most controlled airspace’

The world of aviation is struggling to understand how a deadly collision in the air between a passenger plane and a military helicopter plane managed to occur in what one of the experts described as “the most controlled part of the airspace in the world.”

The Black Hawk helicopter collided with the American army with a crew of three members of a US aircraft carrying 64 people before the passenger plane aimed at land at Washington National Airport.

Both aircraft were sent for accreditation in the Botomak Ice River on Wednesday night.

The exact cause of the accident is still unknown.

Officials will issue a preliminary report within 30 days, according to the National Transportation Council (NTSB) – which leads the investigation.

The crews managed to recover aviation data recordings – known as black boxes – from debris on Thursday, according to the American news partner. Devices can help investigators determine what caused a crash.

The airspace is limited to a severe boycott of Colombia to protect both national security and buildings that include the basic aspects of the American government.

Commercial aircraft are prevented from flying over the Pentagon, the White House and other historical monuments.

However, the region is witnessing a lot of air traffic, said a flying lawyer, Jim Brazill, who has dealt with many litigation matters related to aircraft and Reagan airport, for the BBC.

There is a commercial traffic but also a flight and a special helicopter flying throughout the city, and often hold high -level officials and politicians among sensitive sites.

“I really got these narrow paths inside and outside, and you have a lot of crowding and additional planes, so you put a lot of aircraft in a truly confined space,” he said.

Jeff Josetti, a former aircraft investigator in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NTSB, BBC Nechor, told the helicopter in contact with the control tower before the accident. He said that the air traffic controller referred to the US Airways flight to the helicopter.

“The helicopter pilot indicated that he had a plane on the horizon and he would be visually separated from that – then the accident occurred shortly after that – so there will be a lot of questions about what the helicopter pilot saw exactly?” Mr. Josetti said.

Todd Inman, part of the five -member NTSB, said that the capital is also a “unique environment” due to helicopters and specific areas allowed to fly.

“If you look at the capital, you will see a lot of helicopters heading to this field, so there is a well -defined system in this regard,” he said.

Mr. INMan could not provide any details about the helicopter before it collided with the US Airways flight.

Mr. Brachle, who dealt with many litigation issues related to aircraft and Reagan Airport, told the BBC that the question that remains is how two planes ended in the same airspace.

“What really is unique in Reagan is on the river. There is also a helicopter road that crosses directly during this final approach and this is in or less than 200 feet,” he said.

Brachle said that both helicopters and aircraft approach intersect.

“You are putting two different planes in a really small space with any barely separation,” he said. “If you get one, you may be very low, one very high, you end up in the same place.”

Aviation Adviser, Philip Petrorne Hayes, said that the accident occurred in the “Association of Various Aviation Systems”, including civil and military systems, as well as the airport procedures.

“You are on three or four flight systems here – and in those borders, most incidents tend to occur,” he added.

But UK’s airline John Strickland said that the amount of commercial air air in the region could not completely explain the reason for the deadly collision of the occurrence.

In addition to Washington National near the city center, it is noted that there is an international gate and Washington Dallas, as well as Baltimore Airport a little away.

“There must be traffic flow management to keep separation. It seems as if we had in London where you have to manage traffic flows between Heathrow, Stanstad, Gatwick, London.

“Therefore, the capital does not differ in this sense against London or New York … It is not completely unusual.”

“This is the most controlled airspace in the world. You have both US government regimes and civil systems – Ronald Reagan Airport owned by even by the government, it’s one of very few like this.

“This is really the safest airspace – and it must be safer – in the world, given the number of security and civil safety organizations working in this field.”

The last fatal collision included a commercial plane in the United States in February 2009. Officials and experts alike stressed that this type of accident was very rare due to narrow safety restrictions on all kinds of flights.

The footage obtained from the BBC’s CBS News, the American news partner, showed that two planes seem to be involved in visual disruption on radar systems that can be accessed to control units.

The sound obtained by BBC News appears to confirm that the helicopter was in contact with air traffic control at the airport.

The helicopter was asked if she had a passenger plane “on the horizon” and “passed behind”. In the following sound, the control units seem to realize that there was a collision and can be heard to direct other aircraft in the air to the neighboring airports.

Mr. butterworth-Hayes said that collision in the air like this requires a number of things that occur.

He said that in order to fly in the civil airspace, the military helicopter had needed to provide it with a respondent device that alerted the aircraft.

This means that each of the aircraft should have been able to see each other, he says, in addition to that there were instructions from monitoring air traffic and a aircraft protection safety device that works separately from each other.

“On this occasion, you have these two different systems and both should be able to keep these aircraft separate.”

The Black Hawk helicopter was part of B. The twelfth aviation battalion. She left Fort Balfwar, a military base in Virginia, and was participating in a training exercise.

US Defense Secretary Beit Higseth said the helicopter crew is “somewhat experience” and participating in an annual night training session.

Speaking to CNN, the CEDIric League – the retired US Air Force colonel – said it is normal for this type of military aircraft to be trained at night, especially to ensure that the pilots are proficient in using the tools needed to fly in the dark.

He said that one of the unit’s duties is the transfer of high -level employees around the capital – although any of the plane was not on board because it was a training flight.

He added that the unit pilots are expected to be in flying in the crowded airspace in the capital and “the train in order to avoid accidents like this.”

Only experienced pilots with experienced pilots will be able to train in this busy section of the airspace.

“Whether it is a training in new systems or equipment, we need to know the systems that the pilot has done in the helicopter and whether they have all safety systems on board, or whether they are trying a new procedure or a new path.”