A New York Times investigation into the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger plane near Ronald Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people in January does not pin the blame on a single factor but on a series of complex ones. However, the story by Kate Kelly and Mark Walker puts a focus on a common aviation tactic known as "visual separation," also known as "see and avoid." Pilots of helicopters or small aircraft are routinely granted permission to use the tactic near airports to keep traffic moving, as was the case here. It "works exactly as it sounds," the story explains. "A pilot is meant to see neighboring air traffic, often without assistance from the controller, and avoid it by either hovering in place until the traffic passes or by flying around it in prescribed ways."
The tactic obviously failed in this case, and it has been faulted in about 40 other fatal crashes since 2010. Other factors at play:
- The controller could and should have done more to urgently warn both the helicopter and plane pilots of their collision course, experts tell the newspaper.
- As previously reported, vital communication between the tower and the helicopter may have been "stepped on," meaning somebody was pressing the button to communicate just as incoming instructions were coming in.
- The tower informed the helicopter that the plane was circling to Runway 33. "Aviation experts said that development may have blindsided" helicopter pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach. "Though she had flown four or five similar practice rides there over the years, she might have never confronted a landing on Runway 33, because it is used only 4 to 5 percent of the time."
- The helicopter was flying too high, and technology that could have allowed the tower to track it better was deliberately turned off because the crew was practicing for a hypothetical secret rescue mission.
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