Catastrophe above the Potomac: collide helicopters and passenger aircraft!

Catastrophe above the Potomac: collide helicopters and passenger aircraft!

Washington, USA - A tragic incident occurred in Washington when a military helicopter collided with a passenger plane, which triggered increased concerns with the authorities. According to the first reports by NTSB boss Jennifer Homendy, the air traffic controllers put a warning a few minutes before the accident, but could not clearly transmit the word "circular". The helicopter crew apparently could not decipher this important information because the radio message was distorted by technical problems. Detailed data show that the microphone on the radio of the two machines might have been muted at the decisive time.

In the tragic collision, which took place at the end of January, both machines crashed into the Potomac River. So far, 40 corpses have been recovered, and the authorities estimate that there are no survivors among the 64 passenger aircraft and the three -person helicopter crew. According to media reports based on an internal FAA report, there were irregularities in air traffic control, including the overload of a single air traffic controller, which was also responsible for several machines. This situation is to be classified as unusual and possibly dangerous, especially considering violent traffic at that time.

criticism and speculation

President Donald Trump quickly spoke out and warned mistakes among the pilots responsible. He claimed that the helicopter should have adapted its flight altitude and speed to avoid a collision. In his opinion, diversity programs in aviation also contributed to the tragedy by impairing the quality of the air traffic controllers. While the investigations by the NTSB will continue until further notice and the team needs valuable time to check the data collected, the question of guilt is already being discussed with heated. A father of one of the late pilots sees the mistake directly in the military helicopter and expressed concerns that the view could have been affected by using night vision glasses, which could have favored the collision in this critical situation.

The Italian airline American Airlines was the affected passenger aircraft, which had started in Wichita, Kansas. There were several figure skaters on board and their family members who returned from a training camp. Tragically, a group of young talents also counted among the victims, including two Russian ex-world champions in pairs. The NTSB plans to submit the first results of its investigation within 30 days, while the community concerned mourns the dead and hopes for answers, which has led to this devastating misfortune, such as vienna.at and welt.de report.