Tangle - PREVIEW - The Friday Edition: Making sense of the Washington, D.C., plane crash.

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

On Wednesday, January 29, an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers collided with an American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members over the Potomac River. The plane had been approaching Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and was preparing to land when the helicopter intersected its path, killing all 67 people. The crash was the deadliest air accident in the U.S. since November 11, 2001. The crash prompted immediate questions about why modern aviation safety systems failed to prevent the disaster. Furthermore, the visceral nature of the accident — a mid-air explosion followed by a freefall into the water — adds a layer of unease to these questions as Americans try to make sense of the tragedy. Today, we’ll explore five aspects of the crash: what we know so far, the leading theories about what caused it, what reforms might be needed, whether DEI initiatives or changes to aviation safety standards were involved, and the implications for public safety. In Tangle fashion, we consulted a wide range of opinions during our research, and we’ll feature analysis from four aviation experts throughout the edition.This is a preview of today's special edition that is available in full and ad-free for our premium podcast subscribers. If you'd like to complete this episode and receive Sunday editions, exclusive interviews, bonus content, and more, head over to tanglemedia.supercast.com and sign up for a membership. If you are currently a newsletter subscriber, inquiry with us about how to receive a 33% discount on a podcast subscription! Ad-free podcasts are here!Many listeners have been asking for an ad-free version of this podcast that they could subscribe to — and we finally launched it. You can go to tanglemedia.supercast.com to sign up! You can also give the gift of a Tangle podcast subscription by clicking here.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. This podcast is written and researched by Will Kaback and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Jon Lall. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Hunter Casperson, Kendall White, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead. Our logo was created by Magdalena Bokowa, Head of Partnerships and Socials.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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suited for our Friday edition, allowing us to get a little bit more time to learn about what investigators are saying could have caused the crash, talk to some experts who are from the FAA, are from the military, have flown commercial planes, have flown Black Hawk helicopters, and hear what their analysis is, and generally get a holistic sense of what we know and what lessons should be learned after a tragedy of this nature. We're going to talk about this accident from a few different angles, but let's start by just establishing some basics about what happened. The crash. On Wednesday, January 29th, an Army Blackhawk helicopter carrying three soldiers collided with an American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members over the Potomac River.

The plane had been approaching Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and was preparing to land when the helicopter intersected its path, killing all 67 people. The crash was the deadliest air accident in the US since November 11, 2001. The crash prompted immediate questions about why modern aviation safety systems failed to prevent the disaster. Furthermore, the visceral nature of the accident, a mid-air explosion followed by a free fall into the water, adds a layer of unease to these questions as Americans try to make sense of the tragedy. Today, we'll explore five aspects of the crash. What we know so far, the leading theories about what caused it, what reforms might be needed, whether DEI initiatives or changes to aviation safety standards were involved and the implications for public safety. In tangle

fashion, we consulted a wide range of opinions during our research and will feature analysis from four aviation experts throughout this edition. They are Steve Scheibner, also known as Captain Steve, a pilot with over 40 years of experience. He served in the US Navy from 1983 to 1991 and deployed three times during his service. Since then, Scheibner has flown for American Airlines and is currently a captain on the Airlines Boeing 777 fleet. And a quick editor's note here, Scheibner spoke with us individually and not as a representative of American Airlines, so his opinion should not be construed as the position of the airline. Next, Elizabeth McCormick, a U.S. Army veteran and former Black Hawk helicopter pilot for the Army. During her service, McCormick flew missions

as a chief warrant officer, including U.N. peacekeeping, air assault, command and control, VIP, multi-, and top secret military intelligence missions. She received the Meritorious Service Medal and the US Congressional Veteran Commendation. She is now an author and motivational speaker. Next, David Susi is a former Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, safety inspector, and accident investigator. He's also the author of the books,

Why Planes Crash, Safer Skies, and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Susi is currently a safety analyst for CNN, where he contributes to reports on aviation topics. And finally, a Tangle reader who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity. This reader is currently a pilot for a major US airline and has flown commercial airplanes for over 40 years. During his career he has regularly flown in and out of Reagan National Airport. We'll refer to him as ANP, Anonymous Pilot, for the purposes of this edition. Before we dive in, a few terms

that we'll use throughout the piece to get some definitions for upfront. First, DCA. This is the airport designator for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC. Second, the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the federal government agency within the US Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in the United States. Third, NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent government agency that investigates civil transportation accidents.

The NTSB is leading the investigation into the crash in Washington, DC. Fourth, ATC air traffic control, ground-based controllers at airports whose directive is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and support for pilots. Next, the Black Hawk, specifically the UH-60 Black Hawk, the military aircraft involved in the crash. The helicopter is manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft and is used by the United States

Army as a utility tactical transport aircraft for a range of activities, from air assault to relief operations. And finally TCAS, T-C-A-S, the Traffic Collision Avoidance System, a safety system designed to prevent midair collisions. TCAS monitors the airspace around an aircraft by detecting other aircraft equipped with transponders. The system provides pilots with traffic advisories and recommends evasive maneuvers to avoid collisions, if necessary. Now let's talk about what we know about the crash and also what we don't know yet.

The airplane involved in the crash was American Eagle Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-700 jet operated by PSA Airlines for its parent carrier American Airlines. The helicopter was a UH-60 Blackhawk with a three-person crew that was on a training flight. Flight 5342 was en route to DCA from Wichita, Kansas and was making its final approach to runway 33 at DCA around 8.45 p.m. Eastern time, having been diverted to this runway at ATC's request. ATC will routinely divert smaller regional jets to the 5,200-foot runway 33 to relieve pressure on the 7,000-foot runway 1, which is the nation's busiest,

and average roughly 800 takeoffs and landings per day in 2023. DCA as a whole is a highly congested airspace with overlapping commercial and military aircraft activity and strict airspace restrictions due to the airport's proximity to the White House, Pentagon, US Capitol, and other important government buildings. Minutes before the crash,

radio transmissions show that ATC alerted the Black Hawk helicopter to the presence of Flight 5342. A member of the helicopter crew requested visual separation, which ATC granted, meaning the helicopter pilot took responsibility for avoiding the other aircraft by keeping it within their line of sight, rather than using separation distances provided by ATC. Less than a minute later, the controller asked the helicopter for a second confirmation that it had the jet in sight

and instructed the pilot to, quote, pass behind the American Airlines jet. A member of the helicopter crew again confirmed that they saw the plane and requested visual separation for a second time, which was again granted. It is unclear whether the helicopter crew saw Flight 5342 or if it mistakenly identified a different aircraft as the one it was meant

to avoid. The Pentagon said that the helicopter crew members were carrying night vision goggles on the flight, but we do not know whether they were wearing them at the time of the crash. According to the New York Times, military helicopter pilots routinely train with night vision goggles as they are required to fly a certain number of hours at night with the goggles on every year. If the crew members were wearing night vision goggles in the run-up to the accident, their field of vision would have been significantly restricted, as the view through the goggles is monochromatic and reduces vision from the usual 180 degree field to a 40 degree arc. Additionally, the high volume of air traffic around DCA, in addition to lights from

the buildings and night sky, could have confused the helicopter crew. Investigators are looking into whether staffing in the control tower contributed to the crash. Several news outlets have reported that one controller was tasked with managing both helicopter and airplane traffic around DCA when the incident occurred. Jobs typically divided between two people. Last Friday, The Washington Post also reported that one controller had been allowed to end their shift early, though aviation experts have noted that this is not an unusual practice. This week investigators

have begun honing in on the Blackhawk's altitude prior to the accident. Data from the ground-based radar suggested the helicopter was flying higher than it was approved to prior to the crash. It was not permitted to fly above 200 feet but appears to have been at approximately 300 feet while the passenger jet's flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet plus or minus 25 feet at the time of the accident. Furthermore, the helicopter was reportedly a half-mile off from where it should have been based on the predetermined route that had been approved before it entered the DCA airspace.

Investigators are also looking into why Flight 5342 pitched upward in the final moments before the crash, which could have signaled that the plane's pilots saw the helicopter at the last moment and tried to take evasive action. On Tuesday, authorities announced that they had recovered the bodies of all 67 victims from the accident. The NTSB, in coordination with the Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, has also recovered most of the wreckage from both aircraft, as well as their flight recorders, also known as black boxes, which contain data and voice recordings from the flights.

The NTSB expects to publish a preliminary report on 12 to 24 months. We'll be right back after this quick break. Hey, you're a Canadian podcast listener, and that makes you important to us. We'd like to know more about you, what you think of this podcast and the other podcasts you'd like to hear. So we put together a super brief survey we'd like you to fill out, complete it and we'll give you a chance to win one of three $100 Amazon gift cards. That way we can say thanks for your opinion. Just go to mypodcastsurvey.ca and have your say. That's mypodcastsurvey.ca. With the Fizz loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with

your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at phys.ca. Next, let's talk about what may have caused the crash. In my conversations with the four aviation experts and a review of the NTSB's daily briefings, four key factors have emerged as likely contributors to the crash. four key factors have emerged as likely contributors to the crash. Failures in communication, ATC staffing, distractions within the Black Hawk, and congestion in the DCA airspace. First, communication failures. One of the points I discussed at length with McCormick and Scheibner was how communication between ATC, the airplane, and the Black Hawk could have contributed to the crash. McCormick

suggested that ATC could have been more explicit in giving directions to the Black Hawk and confirming that they saw Flight 5342 and not a different airplane. She said, When the helicopter pilot asked for visual separation, that would have been a relief to an overworked air traffic controller doing two stations. But I don't think they realized that the helicopter was looking at a different plane. Based on the air traffic control transcripts, ATC said, quote, do you have a visual on the CRJ?

They didn't say, quote, at your two o'clock climbing. They didn't say, quote, at your 11 o'clock descending. I really think the Black Hawk crew was looking at the airplane that was taking off to their right and not the one that was taking off to their right and not the one that was

descending high from their left. All commercial aircraft are required to be equipped with a TCAS which operates independently of ATC. Scheibner explained that TCAS communicates with pilots in two ways traffic advisory alerts called TAs that notifies of a potential collision threat nearby, and a resolution advisory alert, RAs, that give the pilot specific instructions for how to avoid the conflict. The system is highly effective. There hasn't been a mid-air collision in the United States involving an aircraft equipped with a functioning anti-collision system and another with a working transponder since TCAS became mandatory. However, Scheibner explained that TCAS

is inhibited at points in a flight. He said, quote, if you're above a thousand feet it will call out if you're too close. Then it'll give a second call. It'll say climb, climb now, or descend, descend now. It doesn't do that below a thousand feet because there's just not enough room to maneuver. Furthermore, TCAS relies on radio altimeter data, which becomes less accurate close to the ground and could prompt the system to give pilots incorrect instructions.

Now, another aspect of altitude risk when a plane is landing is that takeoff and landing are the most critical phases of flight for pilots. And safety measures have been designed to control this risk by minimizing cockpit distractions, like you might get from TCAS and instructing pilots to only rely on ATC to avoid any collision threats. Scheibner also noted that anti-crash technology may have been different on each aircraft, possibly inhibiting their ability to relay information about the other's position.

We still don't know what precise air safety system the Black Hawk had since military aircraft aren't subject to the same requirements as commercial planes, but the New York Times reported that the model of the helicopter flown by the crew was an older version and likely would not have been TCAS equipped. However, the Black Hawk probably did have a transponder that could have communicated with Flight 5342. And on Thursday, Senator Ted Cruz said that the Blackhawk had turned off an advanced surveillance system called ADS-B at the time of the crash, though we should note that this detail has

not been confirmed by the NTSB. Scheibner said that the NTSB investigation will clarify whether the two aircraft were ever in communication, or if their respective safety systems could have warned them about their converging paths at such low altitude. He suggested that the crash may prompt regulators to explore how to better configure communication systems for aircraft, in particular military and commercial aircraft that need to talk to each other, to communicate with each other in the event of a collision risk. Next, ATC staffing. In recent years, air traffic controllers have begun to sound the alarm about understaffing and burnout in their ranks, leading to a significant uptick in what are

called close calls at airports. In 2023, the FAA identified 19 serious runway incursions through October, the most since 2016. The incidents were frequent enough that in 2023, the FAA created an independent safety review team to assess safety and reliability in the air traffic system. And while ATC staffing is not the sole focus of these safety reviews, it remains a serious point of concern. In fiscal year 2023, the FAA initially categorized 503 air traffic control lapses as quote significant, which was 65% more than in 2022. In the aftermath of the DCA crash, reports about understaffing at the airport's control tower immediately prompted questions about whether an ATC mistake had led to the accident. We'll be right back after this quick break.

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with no points hike. Switch to RBC Avion Visa and get up to 55,000 bonus Avion points. Limited time offer, conditions apply. Visit rbc.com slash Avion. To understand the extent of this issue, consider this stat from a New York Times report. More than 90% of the country's 313 air traffic control facilities operate below the FAA's recommended staffing levels, more than 90%.

Another shocking report from the Times found that, quote, air traffic controllers and others have submitted hundreds of complaints to a Federal Aviation Administration hotline, describing issues like dangerous staffing shortages, mental health problems, and deteriorating buildings, some infested by bugs and black mold. Scheibner said that commercial aviation has been pushed to the brink in the past two years. He said, quote, everybody's been under stress. One of the things that masked or covered the problem was the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, the number of flights diminished significantly for a long time.

So there just weren't as many airplanes in the air. The issue of short staffing and train cycles just wasn't as pressing. Now everybody's back flying and the airways are just as full as they've ever been. Scheibner also stressed that there did not seem to be anything unusual about the staffing situation in the ATC tower when the crash occurred. He said, quote, it was getting late in the evening. It's after 8 p.m. on a Wednesday and it's a clear night. The supervisor probably said to one of the controllers,

hey, if you wanna go home, go home and be with your family, we can handle it. That's a call that a tower will make all the time. I don't think they went below any legal limit for staffing. They probably just went down to their minimum staffing. In this case, I think everyone got lulled into a false sense of security, especially when the helicopter took visual separation responsibility twice.

When you do that, it's like a contract. You're saying, I'm responsible for my own separation." Susie and ANP echoed this assessment. Susie said, quote, I think it was well handled by the air traffic controllers. I don't work for the FAA anymore, nor was I an air traffic controller at any point, but from my experience, I don't see any evidence on the radio transmission that would indicate this accident was related to the air traffic controllers."

A&P said it would have been normal for ATC to reduce staffing during non-peak hours as well. He said, quote, "...when I land at any major airport between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., there is no ground controller and the tower controller works both positions. Ground controllers handle all taxi and aircraft. You can do that when you have one or two airplanes landing and taking off per hour versus the morning or afternoon rushes when there are 60 to 90. The question is, would a helicopter controller have made a difference in this situation?

Maybe. With two people working the positions, giving them more time and less distraction, they might have noticed the Black Hawk was not where it was supposed to be. On the other hand, according to the ACT tapes, the controller asked the Black Hawk a second time, which indicates the single controller was focused on the potential conflict. The Black Hawk accepted responsibility for avoiding what it thought was the correct aircraft. Under the law and ATC procedure, that acceptance absolves the controller from responsibility. However, Scheibner and Soussi both mentioned that even if ATC did not seem to make an obvious mistake in the lead up to the crash, they still could bear some responsibility.

Scheibner noted that the tower called traffic three times exactly what they're supposed to do, but the tower knew they were getting too close and that tower controller is probably saying, I wish I'd given the helicopter a vector to turn left or right. But he didn't and it was too late. Susi added that controllers who are in charge when an accident or close call happens are sometimes penalized for an operational error known as a deal. He said quote, you get three strikes through your whole career. If there's any kind of near miss or collision or anything you may have had the opportunity

to catch before it happened, that's a deal. I know several air traffic controllers who are living their entire careers on two deals. They make one mistake and they're fired. So it's a lot of stress. I mean a lot of stress. I mean, a lot of stress. Suzy said the DCA controller's actions prior to the crash would probably qualify for a deal because the two aircrafts broke the minimum amount of separation they were supposed to have, and ATC could have diverted the helicopter despite previously granting visual separation.

Even so, ANP said that in his career as a commercial pilot, he couldn't remember any instances of a controller revoking visual separation after a pilot had said they had their sights on another aircraft, though he did say it was certainly possible. Overall, all four experts thought that ATC staffing was unlikely to be ruled a primary factor in the crash, though it may have played a part. However, they also each said that staffing and burnout are important issues that need to be addressed to mitigate the risk of future accidents. We'll discuss their ideas in the section on safety reforms shortly.

Next, distractions in the helicopter. Video of the crash shows what looks like the helicopter flying into a straight line onto the airplane's vector, leading many observers to conclude that the Black Hawk was the primary cause of the crash. The experts I spoke to shared this assessment, though they each stressed that accidents like this are never due to a single factor and that nothing is certain until the NTSB report comes out. Still, I spoke at length with McCormick about what could have been happening inside the helicopter that would have prevented the crew from seeing the aircraft, especially after the incident. John, executive producer for Tangle. We hope you enjoyed this preview of our latest Friday edition.

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In the meantime, if you sign up for a newsletter subscription, and you'd like to receive the podcast subscription as well, or vice versa, we will offer you a 33% discount to sign up for the other. Most importantly, we just want to say thank you so much for your support. We're working hard to bring you much more content and more offerings, so stay tuned. I will join you for the daily podcast on Monday. For the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a fantastic

weekend y'all. Peace. This episode was written and researched by Will Kabeck and edited and engineered by John Law. The script was edited by managing editor Ari Weitzman, senior editor Will Kabeck, Hunter Caspersen, Kendall White, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Morehead. The logo for our podcast was designed by Magdalena Bikova, who is also our head of partnerships. Music was written and produced by John Law.

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and get up to 55,000 bonus Avion points. Limited time offer, condition supply. Visit rbc.com slash Avion. With the FIZ loyalty program you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know for texting and stuff and if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan you're Paradise is an all-new series set in a serene community inhabited by some of the world's most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds. Starring Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden, and Julianne Nicholson, Paradise is now streaming only on Disney+.