Here are the latest videos and NTSB updates on the recent collision in D.C.:

The following videos are those I consider to be among the best available.  This first one is from a former U.S. Air Force pilot and crash investigator.  He says what I have speculated earlier: that 450 hours is very low (for a fixed wing pilot), but — apparently — it is normal for an Army Captain.  What this means is the Army is not training enough, as rotary-winged flight (i.e. helicopters) is more demanding than fixed wing.  Juan Brown also says the CWO’s (chief warrant officer’s) confirmation of having the CRJ in sight at 6 miles was probably a cultural response (in other words, a habit, meaning the black hawk probably did not have the CRJ in sight at that time):

Here is another good video, and this one details the near-misses that happened in the days just prior to the collision:

Finally, this video is from a former pilot who has flown into Washington National.  It shows the flight path taken by the CRJ.  It also has a simulation from the black hawk pilots’ perspective.

Now, what can we deduce from all of the information released so far?

1 — It is very likely that the pilot flying the black hawk was the female Captain (she was the reason for the training flight — to get her re-certified).

2 — The need to re-certify, combined with her role in the Biden White House and as a sexual assault advocate for the last 2 years indicates she may not have been current.  This means she had not been making the limited training flights necessary to keep her flight status up to date.

3 — Given that the female pilot does seem to have been a member of a ‘favored’ community, and that her friends have publicly emphasized how good a person she was and not how good of a pilot she was, there is — in my opinion — sufficient reason to suspect the Cpt. may have been given this position to help her career — even though she was not currently qualified to fill it!

Now, here me clearly!

What I am saying is that I do not care about her genitals of sexual preferences.  If she was placed in a position where she was not currently qualified (not did she have the ability when properly trained, but was she currently ready), then she was set up to fail.  IF THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED, then whoever put her in this position failed her.

This is why I suspect DEI may have had a role in this accident.  However, I also think the primary cause was the policy of allowing military helicopters to over-fly this airfield and under the short final approach paths.  This should never have been allowed and, if we investigate, I still think we will find it was a political decision forced on the FAA.

Again, I may be proven wrong, but this ring plausible to me.  So, until I learn otherwise, this is the direction my thinking is going.

–B3A

PREVIOUS POSTS ABOUT THIS STORY

Airline Collision in D.C. (Updated 1/31/2025)

Best Explanation of Crash? I call BS!

D.C. Mid-Air Collision: Houston, I Think We Have a Problem