My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on January 31, 2025

Each time I hear about an aviation accident I think back to the years I was flying small planes. The conversations by news people regarding the state of safe aviation in the United States … be it DEI hires, technology or congested air traffic control space … has me struggling to know what level of risk Americans want when it comes to aviation safety. 

There’s part of me who knows that there are things we can still do (general aviation is very safe) to improve … but it will and does infringe on our freedom when it comes to all of us sharing the air space in our country. Because I view things from a general aviation/private pilot background and tend to lean towards permitting aviation enthusiasts to fly small planes, ultralights and experimental planes … I bristle at more regulation and barriers for those of us who want to fly. On the other hand, our family regularly flies commercial and we want the safest possible skies and expect that the FAA and our government keeps us safe when we travel. 

The above comments aside, something went wrong on the evening of January 29, 2025 in Washington DC as an American Airlines commuter plane, Flight 5342, with 60 people and 4 crew was on final into DCA. Landing for pilots is the time we are most focused and loaded with tasks … be it a small plane at a community airport  … or landing an airliner at night in busy airspace. For most pilots, having a routine and repetition makes the task easier, as does the assistance from air traffic control and controllers at a airport who space air traffic and watch all airplane and helicopters in their purview. 

On Wednesday night a few things didn’t work as they were supposed to. Now this is pure speculation on my part, but the pilot and first officer on the American Airlines commuter jet did everything by the book and they were fully focused on safely landing the airplane (busy job). Communication with the tower had them lining up for the shorter DCA runway (common) and they were descending and lined up to land on the clear but cold evening with moderate winds. They likely also heard the communication with a military Black Hawk helicopter on a training flight transiting the “normal” track along the Potomac River in Washington DC. Again nothing unusual. Traffic control let them know that a descending regional jet was landing and that the pilot of the Black Hawk should watch for it and pass behind the landing jet so it could continue on their helicopter corridor along the river (WSJ Link). 

My first thought was that the helicopter pilot didn’t locate the landing plane with the lights around the city … or saw another plane and believed it was Flight 5342. Obviously it was not and the descending jet collided with the perpendicularly traveling Black Hawk Helicopter with 3 aboard. Unfortunately all lives were lost on both aircraft.

Politicians are doing what they do … either suggesting the Biden DEI policies prevent the FAA from hiring the brightest and the best to be air traffic controllers (probably true) … or that the busy airspace around DCA is too dangerous and an accident will and did eventually happen. Others are concerned that having “shared” airspace, older technology and humans making decisions are a problem. All are weaknesses when it comes to flying airplanes in increasingly crowded airspace. 

I personally worry that each time there is an aviation accident that we general aviaiton enthusiasts will lose a little more of our freedom in the name of safety. This case might not have directly impacted private pilots, but I’m sure there are many who will question who is licensed to use America’s airspace and increasingly who is flying unmanned aircraft such as drones and quadrotors???? 

EDIT Add: CNN leaked video with a clear view of the crash

Categories: Aviation, News, Video
Tags: airport, american airlines, aviation, blackhawk, crash, helicopter, mp4, skating, Washington DC, wikipedia