Plane crash

[CNCAppsJames]

That's always a possibility, but I'd imagine the chances of that are very low.

Microscopically low.

Pilots routinely get subjected to scanning ectron microscopes shoved up their keysters. Problem children lose their wings in the blink of an eye.

[Incogneeto]

I read that it was a training flight
To qualify for flight pay you have to fly a certain number of hours every year and get a certain number of hours of training.

If that was the case, the co pilot would have been someone who's regular duties did not involve flying
and they were doing their annual training to stay qualified for flight pay.

I also read that military helicopter's maximum altitude over the Potomac River was 200ft and the
collision occurred at 300 ft.

If they know who was actually flying the helicopter they have not released that info to the public yet.

Everything I have read says 400ft. I know that shouldn't matter , But it does.

I also had heard about training with night vision.

I cannot Fathom putting on the goggles in such close proximity to Commercial aircraft.

That has to be False.

[CNCAppsJames]

That's why I gave some credence to the person claiming to be a pilot that claims to have flown that route... Treetops are best and safest. 

200ft AGL in that location gives roughly a 100' vertical distance cushion...TIGHT but manageable.  It is a TINY margin for error in a rotorcraft though. 

[gcode]

I've also read that there were 2 other near misses between helicopters and passenger planes at that airport in the last month.

[Incogneeto]

I've also read that there were 2 other near misses between helicopters and passenger planes at that airport in the last month.

I heard near the same they said two aborted landings.

[gcode]

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actively recruiting workers who suffer "severe intellectual" disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's website.

"Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring," the FAA's website states. "They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism."

The initiative is part of the FAA's "Diversity and Inclusion" hiring plan, which says "diversity is integral to achieving FAA's mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel across our nation and beyond." The FAA's website shows the agency's guidelines on diversity hiring were last updated on March 23, 2022.

FAA Diversity Program

[CNCAppsJames]

Holy Smokes! If there was EVER an occupation where we needed the best and brightest ATC would be it... especially in many Metropolitan areas like DC ,NY, LA, and Seattle where you have an abundance of airports (GA, Mil, and Commercial) in a relatively small geographic area.

[Incogneeto]

Holy Smokes! If there was EVER an occupation where we needed the best and brightest ATC would be it... especially in many Metropolitan areas like DC ,NY, LA, and Seattle where you have an abundance of airports (GA, Mil, and Commercial) in a relatively small geographic area.

But.... DEI

[gcode]

A New York Times report saying the air control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been understaffed for years came amid a lawsuit claiming the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) discriminated against air traffic controller applicants based on their race.




The Times report said the tower at the airport was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, citing the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels.

The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers union call for 30.

The lawsuit represents nearly 1,000 individuals who went to school to become air traffic controllers . They passed the normal test to obtain the position right before the Obama administration said the class was too white and threw out the tests with the applicants, the suit alleges.

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who serves as co-counsel for Mountain States Legal Foundation, based in Colorado, is leading efforts for a lawsuit.

"When you travel and have a delay, it's because there aren't enough of these people," Laxalt told the Wall Street Journal last year. "When you see these near incidents in air traffic control, it's because there aren't enough people. There are only 14,000 air traffic controllers. A thousand were scrapped a decade ago, and the bottom line is they've never made up losing all of this pipeline."

Fox News

[RobertELee]

The lawsuit represents nearly 1,000 individuals who went to school to become air traffic controllers . They passed the normal test to obtain the position right before the Obama administration said the class was too white and threw out the tests with the applicants, the suit alleges.

My cousin experienced the exact same thing around the same time.

[neurosis]

My cousin experienced the exact same thing around the same time.

I'm going to ask a stupid question, and this isn't like your stupid question.

How is a policy that was supposedly an Obama era policy, not fixed by now?

The ATC shortage isn't new?

[gcode]

How is a policy that was supposedly an Obama era policy, not fixed by now?

Because the Biden Presidency was actually Obama 3.0 and they doubled down on DEI policies.
The quantity and quality of the candidates was immaterial, they just had to be the right candidates.
By default, white heterosexual males were the wrong candidates and their applications were discarded,
regardless of their qualifications.
The same thing has been going on in fire departments in California.
White candidates are disqualified because they are white, minority females are hired and advanced even if they lack the body strength to do the job,

[neurosis]

My cousin experienced the exact same thing around the same time.

NM.. I couldn't get Incog to do the research.

"The FAA's biographical assessment was a screening tool used to assess applicants' behaviors and experiences. The test involved multiple-choice questions on topics such as decision-making, handling pressure, and risk management.

The FAA dropped the biographical assessment in 2018 in response to Congress passing a law banning its use. The FAA says on its website that the assessment was removed as a screening tool, and all applicants are now required to take the Air Traffic Skills Assessment (ATSA)."

[CNCAppsJames]

I'm going to ask a stupid question, and this isn't like your stupid question.

How is a policy that was supposedly an Obama era policy, not fixed by now?

The ATC shortage isn't new?

I-ll wager a guess that the currently overworked and understaffed ATC's are happy with their bazillion hours of OT they get which jacks their income up to probably in the neighborhood of $200k/or or more. So the union squats, but their membership be like... dontchu go messing with my income bruh!

I have 1st hand knowledge this is the case in the Los Angeles Sheriff Dept. My son's base pay is ~$95k. With his usual OT... he's right around the $200k mark. They are understaffed by 30%... and they reject good candidates based on the boxes they need checked at any given time.

I don't know that this is the case with ATC but it is in the realm of possibility. 

[CNCAppsJames]

Preliminary internal FAA Report

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/business/air-traffic-control-staffing-plane-crash.html