Page 1
Page 1
Started By
Message

Fighter pilots breakdown latest NTSB findings on DCA midair collision

Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:45 am
Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
79391 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:45 am


Went over CVR from both aircraft. Big takeaways

- already known, but there was a 80 to 100 ft difference between the barometric altimeter and the altitude registered by the FDR

- everything with the Blackhawk indicated it was a typical check ride, the female pilot who was training made some mistakes but she wasn't argumentative with the training pilot, made corrections immediately

- training pilot was the one that indicated he had the traffic in sight, and they say in that environment, the co-pilot trusts him because her responsibility in that moment is flying the helicopter

- there was never any indication from DCA ATC that the plane they were asking them to be aware of was on an alternative approach from the rest of the traffic, it showed up on the CRJ transcript but the Blackhawk never heard it



But long and short of it, this training route was a disaster waiting to happen, it should have been shut down a long time ago.
Posted by evil cockroach
27.98N // 86.92E
Member since Nov 2007
8939 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:49 am to
quote:

but she wasn't argumentative with the training pilot,
true, but she (captain) was pretty "non-chalant" with the instructor (chief warrant officer) when he was asking her to drop altitude. Felt like a "yea, you're the instructor, but I'm a captain".

another perspective, you tube , Ward Carroll (F14 RIO)


LINK

quote:

But long and short of it, this training route was a disaster waiting to happen, it should have been shut down a long time ago.
this also very true
This post was edited on 8/5/25 at 10:51 am
Posted by Dadren
Jawja
Member since Dec 2023
3151 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:53 am to
As an aside, these two have some great content when it comes to military/civilian aviation. They’re really thorough when reviewing accident report.
Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
79391 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:54 am to
I really like when Wombat is on. He can get a little feisty
Posted by Dadren
Jawja
Member since Dec 2023
3151 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 10:55 am to
quote:

I really like when Wombat is on. He can get a little feisty

Man I love when they get him going about Navy leadership and retention, it’s fantastic.
Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
79391 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:02 am to
quote:

Man I love when they get him going about Navy leadership and retention, it’s fantastic


Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
71158 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:09 am to
That's an excellent monologue that is directly translatable to some big corporate structure issues.

Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
79391 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:13 am to
At the end of the video in the OP, I'm reminded again, if EVERYTHING goes according to plan, everyone does what they are supposed to do, in line with the 33 approach, there is 100 ft, AT BEST, of separation between the plane and the chopper.


Insane.
Posted by TechBullDawg
Member since May 2014
2102 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:16 am to
If they're flying IFR then do in daytime wearing a hood so all you see are instruments
Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
79391 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:17 am to
It was a specific night vision goggles check ride. Doubt you can do that during the day.
Posted by redstick13
Lower Saxony
Member since Feb 2007
40552 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:21 am to
Training pilot should have called check ride over as soon as Lobach gave him attitude and didn't correct course.
Posted by sicboy
Because Awesome
Member since Nov 2010
79391 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:25 am to
quote:

as soon as Lobach gave him attitude


Where does this actually come from? They addressed that in the video, per the VCR transcript, at no point did she have attitude with the pilot.

They also addressed this misconception that there is a lot of posturing and pulling rank in that environment. Absolutely not. Everyone knows who's in charge, and they listen to that person.
This post was edited on 8/5/25 at 11:32 am
Posted by aTmTexas Dillo
East Texas Lake
Member since Sep 2018
22969 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:25 am to
quote:

At the end of the video in the OP, I'm reminded again, if EVERYTHING goes according to plan, everyone does what they are supposed to do, in line with the 33 approach, there is 100 ft, AT BEST, of separation between the plane and the chopper.


I'm guessing these helicopters fly down the river to avoid noise in the neighborhoods or if they go down they go into water? Otherwise, stay the hell out of the way of commercial air traffic. Fly over the city in a different direction.
Posted by JAXTiger16
TBD
Member since Apr 2013
2473 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 11:48 am to
quote:

true, but she (captain) was pretty "non-chalant" with the instructor (chief warrant officer) when he was asking her to drop altitude. Felt like a "yea, you're the instructor, but I'm a captain".


They work together and are probably good acquaintances if not friends. This is very common in military aviation to get a check ride from someone you’re very familiar with. So being non chalant is a non factor in this situation
Posted by jcaz
Laffy
Member since Aug 2014
18865 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 12:30 pm to
Mover is a northshore baw
Wonder if he posts here
Posted by The Boat
Member since Oct 2008
175998 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 12:44 pm to
It was ruled flying while woman. Tragic. Same as the Endeavor Air CRJ900 flip in Toronto a month later.
This post was edited on 8/5/25 at 1:17 pm
Posted by evil cockroach
27.98N // 86.92E
Member since Nov 2007
8939 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 6:38 pm to
quote:

They work together and are probably good acquaintances if not friends. This is very common in military aviation to get a check ride from someone you’re very familiar with. So being non chalant is a non factor in this situation
when your instructor is giving you a command to drop altitude because you’re clearly above altitude limits near a major airport with civilian jets landing and taking off and your response is “yea, okayyyy” , that seems dangerous
Posted by baldona
Florida
Member since Feb 2016
23452 posts
Posted on 8/5/25 at 7:44 pm to
quote:

already known, but there was a 80 to 100 ft difference between the barometric altimeter and the altitude registered by the FDR


My issue here is they were at 200-300ft. How would you not know this? They were 30% higher than they thought and didn’t know? If they were 2100 ft instead of 2000 or 10,100 instead of 10,000 I get it.

But I don’t see how when you are flying in a busy city past a busy airport you don’t know your altitude is 30% off in a very important location.
first pageprev pagePage 1 of 1Next pagelast page
refresh

Back to top
logoFollow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News
Follow us on X, Facebook and Instagram to get the latest updates on LSU Football and Recruiting.

FacebookXInstagram