Questions continue to abound in this horrifying tragedy outside Reagan National Airport, where an American Airlines flight coming from Wichita, Kansas, was struck by a Black Hawk helicopter.
Was this an air traffic control problem? Was this a pilot error issue? All of that is still very much up in the air. There have been near-misses in the past.
A lot of people are now asking why Black Hawk helicopters are operating at night in an area where passenger jets are taking off and landing.
Apparently, near-misses of this sort tend to happen a lot more often than expected. According to Reuters, “U.S. commercial pilot Rick Redfern was preparing to land at Reagan Washington National Airport about a decade ago when he spotted a bright red Coast Guard helicopter hovering about 50 feet (15 m) above the Potomac River. Air traffic control promptly warned the helicopter pilot to stay clear, and…
