After confirmation on another frequency, PAT25 is heard during the following communication with Tower. Time 01:30 into the video. DCA TWR: PAT25, traffic just south of the Woodrow Bridge, a CRJ, it's 1200 feet setting up for runway 33. PAT25: PAT25 has the traffic in sight, request visual separation. DCA TWR: Visual separation approved. Waiting on further official information. Leave your condolences here, please.
To everyone who lost anyone, my heart is breaking. To the personnel at DCA and rescue personnel, my heart is with you. I can't imagine how unbearable this is, especially for the local controller, who did everything right.
I cannot imagine what this level of loss must feel like for everyone involved. My heart goes out to those who lost someone, sending prayers and well wishes your way.
I am offering my thoughts, prayers, and heartfelt condolences to those affected by the events of this Mid-air collision. First Responders, NTSB, FBI, Homeland Security, FAA, and others are monitoring this too.
You are the ONLY channel I could find with the minutes PRIOR to the event. Thank you for getting this out so quickly. I searched for you because I already knew of your quality work and now I've subscribed. Sending my condolences to everyone involved in this tragic disaster...
I try to bring facts and light about what's happened and why, and of course some minutes prior is really important. Thanks for watching and for your support.
The "Oh my" from the controller in the background and the "crash, crash, crash" on MWAA are just chilling. Condolences to the families of those who lost a loved one
They werent chilling, they have to stay calm to coordinate the help. Imagine you calling the 911 and the operator start to cry with you. It is the same. Now, you can hear their voices breaking
down here in D.C. it happens all day long. from the looks of the video, the plane was flying too low, especially being that far out from the runway. I watch them all day and they basically dive into the airport, not coast in like a typical approach.
Commercial airplane mechanic here. This happened right at the start of my shift last night. Every tv in our office was playing the news coverage of this. 😞 One of the planes i was assigned was departing DC, but was cancelled due to this. 😞 My deepest heartfelt regrets and condolences to all the families that have been forever changed because of this.
My heart goes out to all people who had to witness this from the airport to the river to the hospital. So tragic. Blackhawk helicopter shouldn't be in the landing area.
Yes, very frustrating to watch MSM coverage. A couple good aviation UA-cam channels had the most up to date and concise information / evaluation in very short time after the incident. I watched one MSM report that had an "aviation expert" on who was completely useless, to say the least. Thank god for the internet.
Heartbreaking for ALL involved. My late husband was a controller for 33 years, this was always his nightmare. They take what they do to heart. Prayers for all.
So was my late boyfriend. He worked Tri-Con... NY New Jersey and Connecticut.. He wouldn't fly. And he told me if I knew what he knew I wouldn't either.
My condolences to the victims. What is extremely tragic about this accident is that in hindsight it just seems so avoidable. A busy airspace with VFR approaches civilian and military traffic on different frequencies, loads of restricted airspace and last-minute runway changes. It pushes everyone to the limit and doesn't leave room for mistakes. It almost seems we got lucky to not have any major incidents so far
True. Also like this Europe. It's mind-blowing when situations like almost happen and still no action. Living in a world that's "what if". Personally, I always defended that both military and civilian aircraft should be in the same frequency when flying. In the end, the safety it's everyone's responsibility. Another interesting topic is how much close some military airfield is so close to one busiest airport.
The whole visual seperation (especially at night) thing in the US is crazy. I understand why some airlines (such as Lufthansa) forbid visual seperation at night in unfamiliar airspace.
Typical American non-standard aviation BS. It's about time the whole aviation industry in the US woke up, maybe this will be the catalyst. Unfortunately change always requires people to cease life first.
The professionalism of everyone involved AFTER the crash was incredible.. Everyone knew that dozens, or even hundreds of people just died, but they pushed past it and did their jobs. Extremely impressive.
You need to keep your emotions for the time being when you are in such crucial roles. Otherwise you'd be endangering more people. But yes, it is impressive to witness.
Damn, it hurts listening to the CRJ crew communications, just coming in for a normal landing with no idea, theyre about to get hit. They really had no chance. RIP
I'm in Australia, been waiting hours with full confidence that VAS would cover this. Thank you. It's a damn shame that all the incidents and close calls we've been watching over the past 12-15 months have finally come to this horribly inevitable point. Hopefully the loss of these poor souls will kick the FAA into gear. What a tragedy.
Even after all those comments on the near miss videos saying something like this would be inevitable without change. I'm still in utter shock of it all. Thanks for what you do Victor.
@simmer484 I'm not sure about that area specifically. Though I've heard people say it's especially congested and complex because it's in the middle of the capital, but I definitely can't say anything that should be taken as fact.
The near misses are almost all in the New York tri state area, however we know this problem ATC overload problem is nation wide, just remember Southwest/ FedEx incident in Austin.
for better or worse, ATc relies on helicopters to deconflict--they do not stop the flow of FW and FW just truck ahead to final. there has always been a conflict between the circle to 33 and helo route (1). I would often avoid it at night when there were aircraft landing to 33 (I flew Air Force helo's there 8 years, was an evaluator). It's pretty clear that the army helicopter screwed up. Probably wasn't familiary with the danger of that conflict and kept trucking ( I would circle if I didn't see the jet landing 33). This really the only major conflict area--so it is possible that they gave the "in sight visual" lip service ---that is, the army chopper. A lot of Army officers are about to lose their jobs, and maybe more
>- . . . so it is possible that they gave the "in sight visual" lip service . . . . -< upon seeing any aircraft in about the position where tower said to look. That is definitely plausible.
They were clearly looking at the wrong plane, in part because the ATC simply labeled it "the CRJ" without providing position, altitude, or heading information. If they'd heard any of that they'd have known they were looking at the wrong plane, and that whatever plane the ATC was warning them about was invisible to them.
I suspect the aircraft they had visual contact with was an aircraft on final for runway 1. Not the one which switched to 33. The CRJ crew would never have known.
Yep, the 737 behind was what the helicopter pilot assumed he was to go behind. There’s a video from that angle that shows the 737 lights looking brighter and therefore closer than the CRJ. Optical illusion unfortunately
He sounded surprised to hear it was a helicopter. It just broke my heart when he asked how many souls on board. Sending my deepest condolences. Sending prayers to the families of everyone on the flight. ✝️🙏🏻💔
Gods, what an absolute tragedy. Just hearing that voice in the back of the one ATC transmission going *Ooh.* My sincerest condolences to the families of those lost.
The mental trauma to all those involved in ATC and nearby aircraft will be substantial and lifelong.Let us bless them in our thoughts as well. RIP and condolences.
Such a horrible thing to happen!!! I feel so much sadness. I also have so much respect for all those people who kept working through to make sure everyone else in the skies were safe.
One of the first places I go when something like this happens. Very useful context and information, from someone who knows what they're covering, that doesn't often get picked up and shown directly on the news.
after tens of those "near misses" I was dreading this moment, at least it's not two civilian carriers edit: clarification after "civilian" comments... "By civilian carriers I meant, it's not the usual two commercial passenger carriers, which would've caused a lot more casualties." I would not dare to imply any one life is more important than the other...
Absolutely! and the GO AROUND INSTRUCTIONS from ATC were chaos! America landing clearance cancelled continue! What's that all about? Then American has to ask a couple of times for clarification... USA send your ATC back to school!
I will say that this isnt your typical “near miss”, this to me looked like pilot error. The helicopter reported the CRJ in sight and said that they would maintain visual separation, they failed to do this. Also what do you mean by civilian carriers?
@@sirrudy1233 I was not and am not blaming one or the other. I'm not comfortable jumping to that kind of judgement from the comfort of my living room by the information I got from youtube. By civilian carriers I meant, it's not the usual two commercial passenger carriers, which would've caused a lot more casualties...
I lost 2 friends yesterday morning after their 1900 flipped on takeoff out of unity airfield in the Sudan.. I couldn’t believe my eyes when this is the first thing I saw on my feed moments later… really a bad day for flying 😢
@@joelc9329 it's a preventable accident with many lives lost, and if nothing changes, more accidents like this one will happen and more people will die because of it. Have you been following the videos from the US on this channel lately?
The helo doesn't show up on Flightradar24 possibly because they have blocked that aircraft for privacy, as FR24 will do. But the helo does show up on ADSB Exchange, which does not honor those privacy blocks.
@@jazzi_0453an ex FAA investigator said last night on TV that the military is not permitted to use GA space for training. Of if they have to use it for any reason- they are responsible legally for separation in VFR conditions.
@@jimosborne2 I don't think the control zone of an international airport in Washington counts as GA airspace, but I'm not sure. And I understand why the military can't just train anywhere with lets say F35s going 500kt. But this helicopter that crashed does nothing all day but fly around D.C. carrying military personnel/VIPs. They have to train for that and at some point they have to train in real life and in the real airspace.
@@jazzi_0453 1. they were not training. If training they would have anti collision on and communicating with tower 2. domestically they should not be in that airspace that is restricted without anti collision on. even if doing secret squirrel stuff. they F ed up and 60+ people paid the price
Prayers to the families of those injured and lost. Stuff like this is never easy. Thank you for covering it so thoroughly and so quickly. Hopefully lessons can be learned to help avoid events like this in the future.
My family heard this explosion from our house roughly 20 miles away, so as seen in the collision video - it was a significant explosion! All our prayers for the victims and their families!
Thank you very much for providing this information so quickly. - It clearifies how busy this airspace was at that time. There´re now a lot of questions to answer. RIP to the Deceased.
I remember seeing the first news post about it last night on Facebook saying that a crj had a mid air with a helicopter. I thought worst case it was just the helicopter going down. Until I saw the video and showed the explosion and then no lights after that when I knew the crj crashed and both aircraft went down. Absolutely horrible, and a historical time for aviation.
It showed up for me last night but at that time the headlines were saying a small plane crash so I dismissed it as a run of the mill GA accident. It wasn't until 4:30AM I heard mid air collision and went to check.
Utterly ridiculous that ANY aircraft are permitted to intersect with the flight paths of airports. The ONLY exceptions should be for emergency services in an emergency situation.
And even in emergencies nobody should be allowed into the airports airspace without being in contact with and approved by the ATC controlling the airport. They were on different frequencies and guided by airport ATC and military ATC respectively with zero coordination. Completely insane!
first American airlines fatal crash in almost 25 years , first fatal crash in American soil since 2013 , just proves how fragile life is , you will never know what will happen tomorrow , rest in peace to the victims.
There have been other crashed of commercial airplanes with passengers fatalities, unless you're only talking about big jets. Penair flight 3296 in 2020 as an example. Couple DHC-3 Otter crashes as well. There was the helicopter crash in 2020 as well that killed 9 including Kobe Bryant.
Who would have thought destroying the essential functions of government and putting literal drunk crazies in charge of everything would create problems?
@@AL-pc1rb if you're suggesting this has anything to do with Trump and his cabinet, that has got to be the dumbest and most disrespectful thing I've heard in a long time! I'm not a big fan of Trump myself but to think the people that just took office in the last 2 weeks could disrupt the operation of the nation's airlines, ATC and military training operations is just asinine! Have a little compassion for the lives lost before you start spewing political nonsense. Yes Someone screwed up... but I assure you it wasn't related to the presidency.
No, it wasn't, and this is not "the U.S." This is a terribly-located airport in an absurdly overloaded airspace. And "all of the near misses" to this point have been attributed to a lack of sufficient air traffic controllers, yet that wasn't the case here. You people are trying to conflate different things across a continent-sized country and just say "hur dur in the U.S." It's bewildering.
@tacitgrasp Yes the controllers in US do very risky things that would be unnaceptable in most of the world. Two weks ago: ua-cam.com/video/vDLdCq_kAzc/v-deo.html
Been following since last night. Seems like the Blackhawk may have misidentified other traffic for the CRJ. This is devastating. Praying for everyone involved.
It really needs to be said that unfortunately most Army helicopter pilots are not experienced flying in busy airport areas, also in the US you do not need 2 crew chiefs on these flights so when there is only 1 crew chief he sits on the right side, the pilot on the left didnt see the plane and didnt have a crew chief behind him to help
No amount of crew chiefs were going to see that plane. They were all looking at the plane they thought the ATC had pointed out because the ATC gave no position, altitude, or heading information of the plane they were pointing out. The victim plane was in actuality approach them head-on at low altitude and discerning it would have been extremely difficult even if they'd known where to look.
God bless our souls on board and their grieving families. Something is drastically wrong with our airway system. Too many near misses and close calls. I’ve been an excellent investigator for over 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like recent history. I used to work at DCA and the only reason it’s open is because of the convenience to Congress, lobbyist and staffers. Excellent job as always Victor thank you.
@@rickworkman4608 helicopter did confirm. It's not in Victor's audio but you can find the helicopter frequency and response online. The reason the helicopter is not heard is because he is on that other frequency. ATC will not issue visual separation unless the first aircraft acknowledges them in sight.
We don't know everything yet. We know ATC gave the instruction, but never heard it acknowledged by the helicopter crew. Did they even get the transmission, and did they have time to process it if they did? And that airport runs two different frequencies for helicopters and other aircraft, so they wouldn't have heard each other's radio chatter.
@@jackielinde7568 Lots may have gone wrong, sure... but it's almost as if it's not a good idea to fly a helicopter around a busy airport, at night, crossing jet flight paths at the exact height they fly through to land, all while relying on looking out the window into the darkness... Sometimes you don't need much of an investigation to see what happened. 😞
It would be hard to see a military helicopter that is close to the ground with the city lights. And the helicopter probably wasn't monitoring the radio. Yet with only seconds to respond
@@jackielinde7568 The helicopter did acknowledge the visual seperation and reported the CRJ in sight. Their response was on a different frequency which was received in the tower, but not by the receiver this audio in the video uses
I was attacked by many ppl here when I was saying that us controllers are too relaxed with vfr traffic close , too close to landing and taking off airliners.. in previous occasion when airliners had to go around and many of you saying it was totally unnecessary , here you go guys…
I don’t think you’re familiar with the airspace around DCA, it’s always like this, nonstop, every day. You’ve got multiple bases nearby and they fly VIPs to other locations in/around the DC area as well. That’s why the river has basically always been the approach for the airport as a way of deconflicting. The helo wasn’t some random cowboy, they were probably flying a mock VIP transport mission or evacuation mission. They SHOULD have known that they were basically crossing into a highway of low-flying aircraft on approach though.
@@EstorilEm I wasn’t referring to the heli specifically as a cowboy. I meant cowboy as a metaphor for how things have been in the US lately when it comes to aircraft safety - lots of near misses, mishaps, etc… and it’s true
Wow! That sent chills down my spine. I'm no expert but I could point out things that could be questionable in there. RIP to all those lost and condolences to their families and friends 😢
My sincere condolences to all of those who have passed away. Also my sincere condolences their families. I hope the families are receiving all of the support they need during this tragic difficult time. Rest in Peace, may heaven look after you.
Pretty inevitable given the chaos in the air and on the ground we have seen recently. Looks like the Black Hawk was at fault, but really the flight rules set him up for failure.
@@ian7379Absolutely correct. Of all the comments I’ve read this is the most logical. Pilot error on the helo pilot but rules allowing that possibility are at least as much if not more to blame
I don’t know if we simply can’t hear the helicopter or not but if the Helo did not acknowledge the traffic landing on 33 when advised by the tower the tower should have immediately told the CRJ to go around
They're on a different frequency usually. That doesn't help. From the crj pilots perspective. There's no time to look for traffic when they're on a very critical stage..a windy night on a non normal approach. From the heli pilots perspective, the crj would be flying from their left to right.. Not lit up at all.
Military aircraft use UHF frequency. The Tower and the helicopter were communicating normally. Tower transmits on both UHF and VHF. The person supplying the audio is transmitting the Tower VHF frequency only, so you do not hear the helicopter's transmissions.
Another UA-cam had audio of the helicopter pilot responding and he confirmed that he saw the CRJ and would pass behind it... I can only guess he was looking at a different aircraft
I had received crap from one pilot on your last nearmiss video about near misses not being serious. FAA likes to avoid near misses, so THIS doesn’t happen.
you wonder if the tower controller wasn't made aware that the heli is passing through short final of 33. at least i would expect a traffic advice for the CRJ as well but it seems there wasn't one.
Unnecessary to increase their workload as they were already focused on the Ground circling for Runway 33 during the Finals, they can't watch out for Traffic in Sky.
Not only wasn’t the CRJ crew advised of the chopper’s position- I assume the military flight was on another frequency and the CRJ’s pilots never knew he was even nearby. Additionally, a circle to land approach at night isn’t the easiest, so I assume that their full attention was on their proximity to the runway. I also get the impression that due to the location, and the number of military helicopter flights, the ordinary rules are stretched.
Today’s tragedy is a reminder that, despite our best efforts, the world is unpredictable. The pain and sorrow felt by all those impacted by this crash will remain long after the investigation. My heart goes out to the families who now face an incredibly difficult journey.
News reports, websites, and UA-cam channels keep saying the CRJ collided with the Blackhawk. Its the other way around. The CRJ was on short final, in a stabilized approach. The Blackhawk slammed into the fuselage of the CRJ, cutting the jet in half. Both aircraft then dropped into the Potomac. Let's get it right, folks.
It is still accurate; there is no fault being assigned by the media with that statement. Notice the phrase "collided with" as opposed to "crashed into" meaning that both aircraft hit each other.
@@VASAviation If you want to be pedantic, sure, two objects collided with each other. People want to know HOW and WHY this happened. To answer those questions, we absolutely do make the distinction. We have rules, they may be arbitrary, but they do work. The CRJ was exactly where it was meant to be, it did not deviate. The blackhawk did not maintain visual separation, it collided with the CRJ. In that regard, the aircraft did not "both collide with each other", the blackhawk collided with the CRJ. Context matters.
@@VASAviationwhile technically correct when one aircraft has full right of way and the other does not the aircraft whose responsibility it is to avoid the other hits not the CRJ hits the Helo.
What I don't understand, must the military do their training in the line of the airport runway and so close to the airport? I don't know what their mission was but it just makes me wondering...
If you were the military and you wanted to train some pilots to become familiar with operating blackhawk helicopters around Washington DC, where would you have them practice?
@@ah3611 Yes, I can agree with that. But then they should also fly with the rules of civil Aviation if they are close to a civil airport. There were other planes in line to land. There should be nothing that crosses that path.
Because crossing these approaches is part of their regular operations, so they need to be trained in it. That means lots of book work, but eventually they need to do it for real and the first few times they absolutely should have an instructor with them making it training. I have far more concern about the procedure itself than the training for it.
@@agsystems8220 Yes, but the tower was also talking to them an they didn't responded to it. Of course we have to wait to official report but there was more than one mistake and I'm sure they need to change their procedures afterwards
After confirmation on another frequency, PAT25 is heard during the following communication with Tower. Time 01:30 into the video.
DCA TWR: PAT25, traffic just south of the Woodrow Bridge, a CRJ, it's 1200 feet setting up for runway 33.
PAT25: PAT25 has the traffic in sight, request visual separation.
DCA TWR: Visual separation approved.
Waiting on further official information. Leave your condolences here, please.
To everyone who lost anyone, my heart is breaking. To the personnel at DCA and rescue personnel, my heart is with you. I can't imagine how unbearable this is, especially for the local controller, who did everything right.
I cannot imagine what this level of loss must feel like for everyone involved. My heart goes out to those who lost someone, sending prayers and well wishes your way.
I am offering my thoughts, prayers, and heartfelt condolences to those affected by the events of this Mid-air collision. First Responders, NTSB, FBI, Homeland Security, FAA, and others are monitoring this too.
R.I.P to all the innocent people on board both aircraft who died in this accident 🙏
May the Lord take all lost to the gate to heaven. Psalm 23 to families. ❤❤❤❤
You are the ONLY channel I could find with the minutes PRIOR to the event. Thank you for getting this out so quickly. I searched for you because I already knew of your quality work and now I've subscribed. Sending my condolences to everyone involved in this tragic disaster...
VASA always gets the job done when it comes to ATC.
I try to bring facts and light about what's happened and why, and of course some minutes prior is really important. Thanks for watching and for your support.
@@VASAviationthanks for the subtitles too
The "Oh my" from the controller in the background and the "crash, crash, crash" on MWAA are just chilling. Condolences to the families of those who lost a loved one
They werent chilling, they have to stay calm to coordinate the help. Imagine you calling the 911 and the operator start to cry with you.
It is the same.
Now, you can hear their voices breaking
@@Dora-Ortega ugh, poster is describing their own reaction to those words; it's not a comment on the emotional state of the ATC
"chilling"
@@512Squared oh I got it. I didn't get that part
English is my second language. Thank you.
@@Dora-Ortega no worries. Glad we cleared it up
It’s unconscionable that any aircraft would be crossing the final approach path at a busy Class B airport. RIP to all.
Ja compleet idioot gedrag van die helicopter piloot
down here in D.C. it happens all day long. from the looks of the video, the plane was flying too low, especially being that far out from the runway. I watch them all day and they basically dive into the airport, not coast in like a typical approach.
There are established low level routes through the airspace along the Potomac.
@@exloadedno that black hawk wasn’t aware of what aircraft he was looking out for
They use that runway when it's windy there shouldn't be anything flying near a runway only planes
Commercial airplane mechanic here. This happened right at the start of my shift last night. Every tv in our office was playing the news coverage of this. 😞
One of the planes i was assigned was departing DC, but was cancelled due to this.
😞 My deepest heartfelt regrets and condolences to all the families that have been forever changed because of this.
Regrets to all airline employees and the victims and their families. Deep inside we know how things can always go south
My heart goes out to all people who had to witness this from the airport to the river to the hospital. So tragic. Blackhawk helicopter shouldn't be in the landing area.
@@davecrupel2817 I am sorry this happened. I am sure all employees are shook up by this. Thank you for what you do to keep people safe.
Thank you for the complete audio with no commentary! I've been watching the talking heads on local news and they can't even get the runway correct!
Yes, very frustrating to watch MSM coverage. A couple good aviation UA-cam channels had the most up to date and concise information / evaluation in very short time after the incident. I watched one MSM report that had an "aviation expert" on who was completely useless, to say the least. Thank god for the internet.
You know, TV Media and all that... Now I'm waiting for all of those asking for permission to use the video and animation in their news programs.
It's not complete, you're not hearing the helicopter comms. Blancolirio has it
The idiot talking heads on MSM keep misrepresenting it as the jet hit the heli.
SMDH.
everything the "news" says is either a lie or wrong. Just start with that premise and you'll be much better off!
MWAA is the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority, in case someone else is wondering.
Thanks 👍 I was looking for that 🙂
Thank you
👍
Heartbreaking for ALL involved. My late husband was a controller for 33 years, this was always his nightmare. They take what they do to heart. Prayers for all.
So was my late boyfriend. He worked Tri-Con... NY New Jersey and Connecticut.. He wouldn't fly. And he told me if I knew what he knew I wouldn't either.
Just because you married him doesn't mean you are an expert
@@inthedarkwoods2022I agree, maybe some are emotionally involved, to some it's just a job.
@@damita4336 An ATC who didn't fly ???
33
My condolences to the victims. What is extremely tragic about this accident is that in hindsight it just seems so avoidable. A busy airspace with VFR approaches civilian and military traffic on different frequencies, loads of restricted airspace and last-minute runway changes. It pushes everyone to the limit and doesn't leave room for mistakes. It almost seems we got lucky to not have any major incidents so far
True. Also like this Europe. It's mind-blowing when situations like almost happen and still no action. Living in a world that's "what if". Personally, I always defended that both military and civilian aircraft should be in the same frequency when flying. In the end, the safety it's everyone's responsibility.
Another interesting topic is how much close some military airfield is so close to one busiest airport.
The whole visual seperation (especially at night) thing in the US is crazy. I understand why some airlines (such as Lufthansa) forbid visual seperation at night in unfamiliar airspace.
The airplane was not required or expected to maintain visual separation; that responsibility was given solely to the helicopter.
Typical American non-standard aviation BS. It's about time the whole aviation industry in the US woke up, maybe this will be the catalyst. Unfortunately change always requires people to cease life first.
💯
The professionalism of everyone involved AFTER the crash was incredible.. Everyone knew that dozens, or even hundreds of people just died, but they pushed past it and did their jobs. Extremely impressive.
Actually about 70. I live on the Virginia side of the river. The Potomac is not that deep and freezing cold.
@ yeah, we know 70 now, but they didn’t. From their perspective, it could have been dozens or even hundreds.
Honestly thought from the video that it was still a survivable crash.
You need to keep your emotions for the time being when you are in such crucial roles. Otherwise you'd be endangering more people. But yes, it is impressive to witness.
Damn, it hurts listening to the CRJ crew communications, just coming in for a normal landing with no idea, theyre about to get hit. They really had no chance.
RIP
NONE. A Trainee was flying the helicopter
You and Juan Brown are legends. Thanks for the brilliant documentation.
Juan is too sensitive. He blocks people who disagree with him in the slightest way.
This was a difficult night. Thank you, Victor, for getting the audio out.
Getting this stuff out insanely quick as usual!
Thanks, Victor, for getting this out so quickly. Excellent work as usual.
This video is more informative than the hours of press conferences they are holding right now
I'm in Australia, been waiting hours with full confidence that VAS would cover this. Thank you. It's a damn shame that all the incidents and close calls we've been watching over the past 12-15 months have finally come to this horribly inevitable point. Hopefully the loss of these poor souls will kick the FAA into gear. What a tragedy.
This is DOD not FAA
Same
@@damita4336 CRJ is FAA, Black Hawk is DOD
The errors were from the Blackhawk
@@dkkavanagh17 Why would civilian and military aviation be under different authorities? That's like asking for problems. Doesn't make sense to me.
Even after all those comments on the near miss videos saying something like this would be inevitable without change. I'm still in utter shock of it all. Thanks for what you do Victor.
I'm seeing lots of people mention this. Is there quite a history of near misses in that area in similar circumstances?
@simmer484 I'm not sure about that area specifically. Though I've heard people say it's especially congested and complex because it's in the middle of the capital, but I definitely can't say anything that should be taken as fact.
@@savegame3308 thank you.
The past few years there has been a very large increase of problems with ATC. @@simmer484
The near misses are almost all in the New York tri state area, however we know this problem ATC overload problem is nation wide, just remember Southwest/ FedEx incident in Austin.
for better or worse, ATc relies on helicopters to deconflict--they do not stop the flow of FW and FW just truck ahead to final. there has always been a conflict between the circle to 33 and helo route (1). I would often avoid it at night when there were aircraft landing to 33 (I flew Air Force helo's there 8 years, was an evaluator). It's pretty clear that the army helicopter screwed up. Probably wasn't familiary with the danger of that conflict and kept trucking ( I would circle if I didn't see the jet landing 33). This really the only major conflict area--so it is possible that they gave the "in sight visual" lip service ---that is, the army chopper. A lot of Army officers are about to lose their jobs, and maybe more
>- . . . so it is possible that they gave the "in sight visual" lip service . . . . -<
upon seeing any aircraft in about the position where tower said to look. That is definitely plausible.
They were clearly looking at the wrong plane, in part because the ATC simply labeled it "the CRJ" without providing position, altitude, or heading information. If they'd heard any of that they'd have known they were looking at the wrong plane, and that whatever plane the ATC was warning them about was invisible to them.
Having grown up in the area, maybe a mile south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, this is the kind of thing I always dreaded.
Chilling and heartbreaking to hear everyone sounding so normal without knowing they had only moments to live. So much sorrow.
I suspect the aircraft they had visual contact with was an aircraft on final for runway 1. Not the one which switched to 33.
The CRJ crew would never have known.
Yep, the 737 behind was what the helicopter pilot assumed he was to go behind. There’s a video from that angle that shows the 737 lights looking brighter and therefore closer than the CRJ. Optical illusion unfortunately
Thank you for sharing this information so quickly. Transparency is everything. Condolences to all involved including the tower personnel
Thanks again for all your work Victor.
❤
He sounded surprised to hear it was a helicopter. It just broke my heart when he asked how many souls on board. Sending my deepest condolences. Sending prayers to the families of everyone on the flight. ✝️🙏🏻💔
The collision alarm in the background at 2:33 just before the crash is chilling.
You can hear it in the earlier transmissions as well, when he’s asking the black hawk whether he has the CRJ in sight.
@@asystole_ Yeah CA are pretty common. Especially when i was a military controller. Thats why he was confirming with the gold top.
Indeed.
Victor, you never disappoint. Great job as always. I feel awful for the families.
Oh my God. My heart is gutted.
Condolances from Finland.
Amazing you are able to do such informative videos so soon after the incident. Condolences to the families of those onboard.
Gods, what an absolute tragedy. Just hearing that voice in the back of the one ATC transmission going *Ooh.*
My sincerest condolences to the families of those lost.
The mental trauma to all those involved in ATC and nearby aircraft will be substantial and lifelong.Let us bless them in our thoughts as well. RIP and condolences.
Such a horrible thing to happen!!! I feel so much sadness. I also have so much respect for all those people who kept working through to make sure everyone else in the skies were safe.
One of the first places I go when something like this happens. Very useful context and information, from someone who knows what they're covering, that doesn't often get picked up and shown directly on the news.
after tens of those "near misses" I was dreading this moment, at least it's not two civilian carriers
edit: clarification after "civilian" comments... "By civilian carriers I meant, it's not the usual two commercial passenger carriers, which would've caused a lot more casualties." I would not dare to imply any one life is more important than the other...
Absolutely! and the GO AROUND INSTRUCTIONS from ATC were chaos! America landing clearance cancelled continue! What's that all about? Then American has to ask a couple of times for clarification... USA send your ATC back to school!
I will say that this isnt your typical “near miss”, this to me looked like pilot error. The helicopter reported the CRJ in sight and said that they would maintain visual separation, they failed to do this. Also what do you mean by civilian carriers?
@@sirrudy1233 they mean "at least it wasn't two passenger planes" basically.
My exact thought
@@sirrudy1233 I was not and am not blaming one or the other. I'm not comfortable jumping to that kind of judgement from the comfort of my living room by the information I got from youtube. By civilian carriers I meant, it's not the usual two commercial passenger carriers, which would've caused a lot more casualties...
Thanks for getting this out so quickly. Deepest condolences to all the affected families.
That is crazy RIP all the people who died in this accident
I lost 2 friends yesterday morning after their 1900 flipped on takeoff out of unity airfield in the Sudan.. I couldn’t believe my eyes when this is the first thing I saw on my feed moments later… really a bad day for flying 😢
So sorry, very difficult time for you. Sending condolences from uk
Almost like flying is a stupid dangerous thing and you shouldn't do it.
Blame DEI 😂
@@slingblade313 people fly every day safely
@@slingblade313people shouldn’t drive then either?
In addition to those on the plane I feel awful for the ATC. They must be replaying and thinking about this nonstop
I hope they start fighting back after this to prevent more accidents like this one because of a broken system
@jazzi_0453 one commercial airline tragedy since 2009 is not a broken system wth are you on about?
Sounds to me like they have been directing sloppy near misses as a matter of habit.
@@joelc9329 it's a preventable accident with many lives lost, and if nothing changes, more accidents like this one will happen and more people will die because of it. Have you been following the videos from the US on this channel lately?
Another example of why military aircraft should be squawking and talking when they're in controlled airspace.
The helo doesn't show up on Flightradar24 possibly because they have blocked that aircraft for privacy, as FR24 will do. But the helo does show up on ADSB Exchange, which does not honor those privacy blocks.
Sending hopes and prayers to the families of both air craft and to the aircraft controllers, and first reaponders
Right on top of things as always! We appreciate you, Victor!
Heartbroken for everyone involved 🙏🏻
So sorry to the families. There's no words that can express my condolences. You're in my prayers.
Thanks for the quick upload. Condolences to all those affected by the tragedy.
Night time in busy commercial airspace, sounds like a GREAT place for a training flight.
was secret squirrel flight. "training" is always added if something goes south.
How else are you supposed to learn how to handle a busy airspace at night if you never train for it?
@@jazzi_0453an ex FAA investigator said last night on TV that the military is not permitted to use GA space for training. Of if they have to use it for any reason- they are responsible legally for separation in VFR conditions.
@@jimosborne2 I don't think the control zone of an international airport in Washington counts as GA airspace, but I'm not sure. And I understand why the military can't just train anywhere with lets say F35s going 500kt. But this helicopter that crashed does nothing all day but fly around D.C. carrying military personnel/VIPs. They have to train for that and at some point they have to train in real life and in the real airspace.
@@jazzi_0453 1. they were not training. If training they would have anti collision on and communicating with tower 2. domestically they should not be in that airspace that is restricted without anti collision on. even if doing secret squirrel stuff. they F ed up and 60+ people paid the price
Prayers to the families of those injured and lost. Stuff like this is never easy. Thank you for covering it so thoroughly and so quickly. Hopefully lessons can be learned to help avoid events like this in the future.
My family heard this explosion from our house roughly 20 miles away, so as seen in the collision video - it was a significant explosion! All our prayers for the victims and their families!
Thank you very much for providing this information so quickly. - It clearifies how busy this airspace was at that time. There´re now a lot of questions to answer. RIP to the Deceased.
I bet you meant clarifies, but yeah
Condolencias a los seres queridos de las víctimas.
Gracias VAS por poner luz en esta tragedia.
I remember seeing the first news post about it last night on Facebook saying that a crj had a mid air with a helicopter. I thought worst case it was just the helicopter going down. Until I saw the video and showed the explosion and then no lights after that when I knew the crj crashed and both aircraft went down. Absolutely horrible, and a historical time for aviation.
I had no clue till I came to YT this morning and saw Juan had a video about this event. Which I watched.
My landing page is set to CNN, so I saw as soon as I opened my browser. Didn't know Juan had a video, so I'm going to check that out next.
It showed up for me last night but at that time the headlines were saying a small plane crash so I dismissed it as a run of the mill GA accident. It wasn't until 4:30AM I heard mid air collision and went to check.
Thank you Victor as always, for getting this out so quickly. What a nightmare for everyone involved.
Utterly ridiculous that ANY aircraft are permitted to intersect with the flight paths of airports. The ONLY exceptions should be for emergency services in an emergency situation.
And even in emergencies nobody should be allowed into the airports airspace without being in contact with and approved by the ATC controlling the airport. They were on different frequencies and guided by airport ATC and military ATC respectively with zero coordination.
Completely insane!
I don't think this was allowed
@@rhiannon7163 - It isn't.
Thank you for such a good quality and fast upload. Tons of information. Amazing work!
Very sorry that this mid air happened. Heartbreaking.
My deepest condolences to the families of all involved in this. It unfortunately sounds like there are no survivors.
Tragic for all concerned but in particular for the friends and relatives of those who died. Across the world we feel for you.
first American airlines fatal crash in almost 25 years , first fatal crash in American soil since 2013 , just proves how fragile life is , you will never know what will happen tomorrow , rest in peace to the victims.
There have been other crashed of commercial airplanes with passengers fatalities, unless you're only talking about big jets. Penair flight 3296 in 2020 as an example. Couple DHC-3 Otter crashes as well. There was the helicopter crash in 2020 as well that killed 9 including Kobe Bryant.
Who would have thought destroying the essential functions of government and putting literal drunk crazies in charge of everything would create problems?
@@AL-pc1rb if you're suggesting this has anything to do with Trump and his cabinet, that has got to be the dumbest and most disrespectful thing I've heard in a long time! I'm not a big fan of Trump myself but to think the people that just took office in the last 2 weeks could disrupt the operation of the nation's airlines, ATC and military training operations is just asinine! Have a little compassion for the lives lost before you start spewing political nonsense. Yes Someone screwed up... but I assure you it wasn't related to the presidency.
VAS Aviation is always the best. Thanks!
As an aviation enthusiast, this pains my heart. 😢 🙏
Thank you for all you do Victor. Outstanding work as usual. Condolences to everyone affected by this tragedy.
That controller ...,, incredible
It's just heartbreaking, I'm so very sorry for all involved.
As harsh as it sounds: after all the many near misses recently in the US, this was only a matter of time. RIP to all the victims!
No, it wasn't, and this is not "the U.S." This is a terribly-located airport in an absurdly overloaded airspace. And "all of the near misses" to this point have been attributed to a lack of sufficient air traffic controllers, yet that wasn't the case here. You people are trying to conflate different things across a continent-sized country and just say "hur dur in the U.S." It's bewildering.
Exactly. So many near measses.
@@tacitgrasp relax tuff guy
@@tacitgrasp- yes it is US. These near miss incidents have exploded in numbers the past 3 years.
@tacitgrasp Yes the controllers in US do very risky things that would be unnaceptable in most of the world. Two weks ago: ua-cam.com/video/vDLdCq_kAzc/v-deo.html
Well done as always. News outlets usually have tye details wrong. Its valuable to get the information directly.
PAT 25 could not maintain visual separation.
At night he probably lost visual identification due to the bright city lights in the background.
Condolences to victims' families.
Thanks for putting this one out so incredibly quickly
I hope the ATC people on duty can get over this incident. RIP..
Been following since last night. Seems like the Blackhawk may have misidentified other traffic for the CRJ. This is devastating. Praying for everyone involved.
It's surreal to hear the ATC's gasp over the comms. Not a good week for aviation. My condolences to all the members who perished.
It's a stressful job on any day, but crashes are really bad for ATC. Some have quit working after having a crash on their watch.
R.I.P to all lost souls. Thoughts with all friends and family of those lost.
Finally something that made sense. thanks for the upload.
Thank you for your hard and fast work on this sir.
This is so sad…. Grateful this didn’t happen over the city. RIP
It really needs to be said that unfortunately most Army helicopter pilots are not experienced flying in busy airport areas, also in the US you do not need 2 crew chiefs on these flights so when there is only 1 crew chief he sits on the right side, the pilot on the left didnt see the plane and didnt have a crew chief behind him to help
No amount of crew chiefs were going to see that plane. They were all looking at the plane they thought the ATC had pointed out because the ATC gave no position, altitude, or heading information of the plane they were pointing out. The victim plane was in actuality approach them head-on at low altitude and discerning it would have been extremely difficult even if they'd known where to look.
God bless our souls on board and their grieving families. Something is drastically wrong with our airway system. Too many near misses and close calls. I’ve been an excellent investigator for over 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like recent history. I used to work at DCA and the only reason it’s open is because of the convenience to Congress, lobbyist and staffers. Excellent job as always Victor thank you.
ATC - Every plane circle at night 3000 feet.
Rather than visually "pass behind the CRJ" he could have given HELO a HEADING and the whole thing would have been avoided.
Except the helicopter confirmed twice that they had the plane in sight and would remain clear.
@@ElDictatorJoeExcept he didn't.
@@rickworkman4608 helicopter did confirm. It's not in Victor's audio but you can find the helicopter frequency and response online. The reason the helicopter is not heard is because he is on that other frequency. ATC will not issue visual separation unless the first aircraft acknowledges them in sight.
How tragic. Condolences to those who’ve lost or been affected. RIP.
The finest audio and visuals VAS. I knew you was gonna cover this well.
Heard this first on a local radio station. Now I’m watching this wow what a tragedy condolences to everyone involved
So much for "visual separation".
I suspect they spotted the plane behind the one they collided with (headed to runway 1) and never actually saw the CRJ.
We don't know everything yet. We know ATC gave the instruction, but never heard it acknowledged by the helicopter crew. Did they even get the transmission, and did they have time to process it if they did? And that airport runs two different frequencies for helicopters and other aircraft, so they wouldn't have heard each other's radio chatter.
@@jackielinde7568
Lots may have gone wrong, sure... but it's almost as if it's not a good idea to fly a helicopter around a busy airport, at night, crossing jet flight paths at the exact height they fly through to land, all while relying on looking out the window into the darkness... Sometimes you don't need much of an investigation to see what happened. 😞
It would be hard to see a military helicopter that is close to the ground with the city lights. And the helicopter probably wasn't monitoring the radio. Yet with only seconds to respond
@@jackielinde7568 The helicopter did acknowledge the visual seperation and reported the CRJ in sight. Their response was on a different frequency which was received in the tower, but not by the receiver this audio in the video uses
Great job with the historic record. Condolences for the lost.
I was attacked by many ppl here when I was saying that us controllers are too relaxed with vfr traffic close , too close to landing and taking off airliners.. in previous occasion when airliners had to go around and many of you saying it was totally unnecessary , here you go guys…
cowboy flying in cowboy land. It was bound to happen, unfortunately
They aren't even willing to properly follow the correct radio communication procedures, and yet you're expecting too much here.
I don’t think you’re familiar with the airspace around DCA, it’s always like this, nonstop, every day. You’ve got multiple bases nearby and they fly VIPs to other locations in/around the DC area as well. That’s why the river has basically always been the approach for the airport as a way of deconflicting.
The helo wasn’t some random cowboy, they were probably flying a mock VIP transport mission or evacuation mission. They SHOULD have known that they were basically crossing into a highway of low-flying aircraft on approach though.
@@tangoseven825Stay classy and righteous
@@EstorilEm I wasn’t referring to the heli specifically as a cowboy. I meant cowboy as a metaphor for how things have been in the US lately when it comes to aircraft safety - lots of near misses, mishaps, etc… and it’s true
Thanks Victor
Thank you Victor for the important work you do getting the most accurate information out to the public in the most timely manner.
Condolences to the families of those on the CRJ and the helicopter.
Unbelievable how this is possible nowadays
Military black hawks dont have TCAS installed/enabled for some reason, seems like something that needs to be changed after this
So sad and sorry for the loss of all the families who lost their family member in this accident.
Wow! That sent chills down my spine. I'm no expert but I could point out things that could be questionable in there.
RIP to all those lost and condolences to their families and friends 😢
My sincere condolences to all of those who have passed away. Also my sincere condolences their families. I hope the families are receiving all of the support they need during this tragic difficult time. Rest in Peace, may heaven look after you.
Extremely sad that this how the safety streak of US commercial airlines has ended.
Pretty inevitable given the chaos in the air and on the ground we have seen recently. Looks like the Black Hawk was at fault, but really the flight rules set him up for failure.
@@ian7379Absolutely correct. Of all the comments I’ve read this is the most logical. Pilot error on the helo pilot but rules allowing that possibility are at least as much if not more to blame
I came here and to Juan's channel to get the clear and straight information.
I don’t know if we simply can’t hear the helicopter or not but if the Helo did not acknowledge the traffic landing on 33 when advised by the tower the tower should have immediately told the CRJ to go around
They're on a different frequency usually. That doesn't help. From the crj pilots perspective. There's no time to look for traffic when they're on a very critical stage..a windy night on a non normal approach. From the heli pilots perspective, the crj would be flying from their left to right.. Not lit up at all.
The helo did acknowledge on a different frequency - you can listen to their side on other videos and websites.
Military aircraft use UHF frequency. The Tower and the helicopter were communicating normally. Tower transmits on both UHF and VHF. The person supplying the audio is transmitting the Tower VHF frequency only, so you do not hear the helicopter's transmissions.
Another UA-cam had audio of the helicopter pilot responding and he confirmed that he saw the CRJ and would pass behind it... I can only guess he was looking at a different aircraft
This is just such a horrific tragedy 😢
I had received crap from one pilot on your last nearmiss video about near misses not being serious. FAA likes to avoid near misses, so THIS doesn’t happen.
Damn! A very bad day. Condolences to the families; strength to the controllers and first responders.
you wonder if the tower controller wasn't made aware that the heli is passing through short final of 33. at least i would expect a traffic advice for the CRJ as well but it seems there wasn't one.
Unnecessary to increase their workload as they were already focused on the Ground circling for Runway 33 during the Finals, they can't watch out for Traffic in Sky.
Not only wasn’t the CRJ crew advised of the chopper’s position- I assume the military flight was on another frequency and the CRJ’s pilots never knew he was even nearby. Additionally, a circle to land approach at night isn’t the easiest, so I assume that their full attention was on their proximity to the runway. I also get the impression that due to the location, and the number of military helicopter flights, the ordinary rules are stretched.
Today’s tragedy is a reminder that, despite our best efforts, the world is unpredictable. The pain and sorrow felt by all those impacted by this crash will remain long after the investigation. My heart goes out to the families who now face an incredibly difficult journey.
News reports, websites, and UA-cam channels keep saying the CRJ collided with the Blackhawk. Its the other way around. The CRJ was on short final, in a stabilized approach.
The Blackhawk slammed into the fuselage of the CRJ, cutting the jet in half. Both aircraft then dropped into the Potomac. Let's get it right, folks.
It is still accurate; there is no fault being assigned by the media with that statement. Notice the phrase "collided with" as opposed to "crashed into" meaning that both aircraft hit each other.
Both aircraft collided with each other. There's nothing gramatically wrong with any of the sentences.
@@VASAviation If you want to be pedantic, sure, two objects collided with each other. People want to know HOW and WHY this happened. To answer those questions, we absolutely do make the distinction. We have rules, they may be arbitrary, but they do work. The CRJ was exactly where it was meant to be, it did not deviate. The blackhawk did not maintain visual separation, it collided with the CRJ. In that regard, the aircraft did not "both collide with each other", the blackhawk collided with the CRJ. Context matters.
@@VASAviationwhile technically correct when one aircraft has full right of way and the other does not the aircraft whose responsibility it is to avoid the other hits not the CRJ hits the Helo.
@@VASAviation My brother, your incorrect usage of the word collision has nothing to do with grammar lol
Well presented.
Thank you!
What I don't understand, must the military do their training in the line of the airport runway and so close to the airport?
I don't know what their mission was but it just makes me wondering...
If you were the military and you wanted to train some pilots to become familiar with operating blackhawk helicopters around Washington DC, where would you have them practice?
@@ah3611 Yes, I can agree with that. But then they should also fly with the rules of civil Aviation if they are close to a civil airport. There were other planes in line to land. There should be nothing that crosses that path.
Their base is very close to the crash site. I think because of this runway 33 requires a circle to land approach from rumway 1.
Because crossing these approaches is part of their regular operations, so they need to be trained in it. That means lots of book work, but eventually they need to do it for real and the first few times they absolutely should have an instructor with them making it training. I have far more concern about the procedure itself than the training for it.
@@agsystems8220 Yes, but the tower was also talking to them an they didn't responded to it. Of course we have to wait to official report but there was more than one mistake and I'm sure they need to change their procedures afterwards
Devastating for all. Condolences from uk