The world of aviation is struggling to understand how a deadly collision in the air between a passenger plane and a military helicopter plane managed to occur in what one of the experts described as “the most controlled part of the airspace in the world.”
The Black Hawk helicopter collided with the American army with a crew of three American airlines plane carrying 64 people before the passenger plane aimed at land at Washington National Airport.
Both aircraft were sent for accreditation in the Botomak Ice River on Wednesday night.
The airspace on the American capital sees hundreds of civil and military flights every day, including helicopters in charge of carrying high -ranking officials and politicians among sensitive sites.
But UK's airline John Strickland said that the amount of commercial air air in the region could not completely explain the reason for the deadly collision of the occurrence.
In addition to Washington National near the city center, it is noted that there is an international gate and Washington Dallas, as well as Baltimore Airport a little away.
“There must be a traffic flow management to keep separation. It seems as if we had in London where you have to manage traffic flows between Heathrow, Stanstad, Gatwick, London.
“Therefore, the capital does not differ in this sense against London or New York … It is not completely unusual.”
However, there are a lot of air areas listed over the province of Colombia, the home of the White House and the American Capitol, via the Botomac River from the National Airport.
Experts agreed to the intersection of civil air traffic with regular military flights that make the airspace in the capital more complicated.
Aviation Adviser, Philip Petrorne Hayes, said that the accident occurred in the “Association of Various Aviation Systems”, including civil and military systems, as well as the airport procedures.
“You are on three or four flight systems here – and in those borders, most incidents tend to occur,” he added.
“This is the most controlled airspace in the world. You have both US government regimes and civil systems – Ronald Reagan Airport owned by even by the government, it's one of very few like this.
“This is really the safest airspace – and it must be safer – in the world, given the number of security and civil safety organizations working in this field.”
The last fatal collision included a commercial plane in the United States in February 2009. Officials and experts alike stressed that this type of accident was very rare due to narrow safety restrictions on all kinds of flights.
Experts agreed that both planes were in direct contact with civil air control.
The footage obtained from the BBC's CBS News, the American news partner, showed that two planes seem to be involved in visual disruption on radar systems that can be accessed to control units.
The sound obtained by BBC News appears to confirm that the helicopter was in contact with air traffic control at the airport.
The helicopter was asked if she had a passenger plane “on the horizon” and “passed behind”. In the following sound, the control units seem to realize that there was a collision and can be heard to direct other aircraft in the air to the neighboring airports.
Mr. butterworth-Hayes said that collision in the air like this requires a number of things that occur.
He said that in order to fly in the civil airspace, the military helicopter had needed to provide it with a respondent device that alerted the aircraft.
This means that each of the aircraft should have been able to see each other, he says, in addition to that there were instructions from monitoring air traffic and a aircraft protection safety device that works separately from each other.
“On this occasion, you have these two different systems and both should be able to keep these aircraft separate.”
The Black Hawk helicopter was part of B. The twelfth aviation battalion. She left Fort Balfwar, a military base in Virginia, and was participating in a training exercise.
US Defense Secretary Beit Higseth said the helicopter crew is “somewhat experience” and participating in an annual night training session.
Speaking to CNN, the CEDIric League – the retired US Air Force colonel – said it is normal for this type of military aircraft to be trained at night, especially to ensure that the pilots are proficient in using the tools needed to fly in the dark.
He said that one of the unit's duties is to transport high -ranking individuals around the capital – however, it is now known that the crew was only on the plane at the time of the collision.
He added that the unit pilots are expected to be in flying in the crowded airspace in the capital and “the train in order to avoid accidents like this.”
Only experienced pilots with experienced pilots will be able to train in this busy section of the airspace.
“Whether it is a training in new systems or equipment, we need to know the systems that the pilot has done in the helicopter and whether they have all safety systems on board, or whether they are trying a new procedure or a new path.”
Speaking to the NEWSDAY program for the BBC World service, Nile Hansford, an Australian aviation expert, said that the collision raises specific questions for American aviation authorities and is likely to lead to a comprehensive reform of the procedures.
He said it will not happen in Europe or Australia because there are more strict rules that control flight tracks.
Strickland, another factor in the tragedy, says the lowest speed was a plane that was flying because it was coming to Earth.
“If any big shock occurs, there is no right time – even if the crew survive – to do anything.
“The plane got a degree of weakness due to its speed. You can imagine that a similar result may be likely even with a much larger plane.”
