Airline pilots warned of the potential dangers raised by the helicopters in the Washington area before the deadly crash at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night.
A database of NASA Air Force security issues describes two amazing incidents in recent years, which have included jet aircraft almost collided with helicopters near the airport. The database contains confidential, anonymous security reports submitted by pilots, air traffic controllers and others in the aviation.
In April 2024, an airline captain reported a helicopter crash, while approaching Reagan National. Just as the jet was formed to land, the plane’s anti-plenary technology warned the pilots that there was a helicopter about 300 feet below the plane and climbing late. The pilots dug the plane away from a possible collision before landing safely.
The captain said that the jet pilots had never been warned by the air traffic controllers for the helicopter and that the pilots could not see it, so it was not “ignoring it was there”.
The security report included a warning warning: Put safer distances between Reagan landing levels and helicopter flying above and under the Potomac river near the airport.
A similar incident happened in October 2022, when an airline captain reported almost clashes with a helicopter raised by a nearby hospital. Jet’s anti-adhesion technology warned the pilots of the possible disaster, listening to the alarm in the cockpit to immediately move the plane to a higher altitude. The captain estimates that the plane came in 300 feet or less than the helicopter.
