Thanks to Capt Travis Foster for sharing this
with us.
Subject:
great Misty Fast FAC video
You’ve probably seen
this……I have but it was good to see a great video about some heroes from SE
Asia once again.
Quigley
Click Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxn-ijZJWA
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thoughts about DCA AA5352
Tragedy: My Two Cents
My heart hurts and
prayers have been made for all those involved in the DCA air disaster.
Now, of course making a
precise speculation as to what happened to cause this tragic midair is simply
way too early. However, this accident
does reveal and highlight a few things that many of us have experienced and may
have been contributing factors here.
It gave me a flashback
to an airplane chopper incident I had in PHX, that I share with you below. Over
the course of my airline career I've had far too many ATC, chopper, and
military situations that could have been bad.......like real bad. For the most
part, all these incidences have made much less frequent after TCAS and ADS-B. But a situation that still unfortunately
exists are split frequency below in my suggestions.
PHX chopper
near miss:
Last night I
was still up at 1am listening to the press briefing of the tragic accident at
DCA. This isn't the only time that the interplay between fixed and
rotor wing aircraft have been handled casually with scary close calls. Many of
us have seen it many times but here below is my personal memory of one.
Years ago,
as a B727 capt, on a hot day with a full airplane, I was taking off from PHX
when as reached V1 then V2, we had just broke ground and were slightly airborne.
In that vulnerable condition, I saw a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter (which
took off from the West side of the airport FBO) flash from L to R across my
windscreen. We could do nothing. Since we had just become airborne,
getting our speed and our sea legs, there
was really no maneuver we could do to avoid the possible midair.
Fortunately, are path missed the chopper. But after we exhaled, I got on ATC
hard over their obvious mistake. Our B727 full of pax, would have perished all
because of their casual clearance for the chopper taking off without proper
restrictions and at the wrong time. Now in the moment at DCA, it appears
that this may have been repeated. It sounds like the over taxed controller
allowed a clearance for crisscrossing flight path separation to be solely maintained
by the Blackhawk flight crew. When, while arrivals to 33 were in process, precisely restricting course or altitude
certainly would have been a better option. Totally unfortunate and unnecessary
and what I would an ATC roll of the dice. What a tragedy.
TUS Memory:
On another
very memorable occasion, I was cleared at TUS from the NE to roll in on final
to 29R. Little did I know that ATC on a
separate split (UHF) freq cleared a F16 to roll in from the S on final,
probably to 29L (which if way to close simultaneous parallel approaches even in
VFR). When i spotted the 16, we were both on opposite angling bases, on a
collision course. He broke and rolled hard and I rolled into a collision
avoiding steep turn and were belly to belly of which was far far too close for
comfort. We both waved off the approach
and after a few deep breaths started to reset for another approach. It all
happened due to split UHF VHF communications.
And afterwards I never heard his choice words for ATC nor did he hear
mine. A split freq situation is a set up for lots of problems - just like what
happened at DCA.
Now of course we don’t
know EVERYTHING about this accident, but we do know some of those things like
weather and such that were not contributors and some items that may have been
contributors.
Out of many 'episodes' I
have experienced here are four Ideas that could be helpful
to avoid a "no
survivors" AA 5342 DCA crash:
1. ATC -No copter crisscrossing
of active flight paths/or altitudes with fixed wing
2. Army - No flight with
Xpndr off in Class B (They are allowed to turn it off)
3. No night-vision goggles
during TakeOff or Landing in Class B (Train away from Joint Use or Civilian
airports)
4. Cease all split freq ops in Class B ATA . ATC tower equipped with a Xmit mixer that pushes out every “inbound” comm so all freqs ultilized would hear both sides of any conversation.
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