Sorry, I wasn’t on the political thread - forgot.
I saw a video that interviewed a retired Blackhawk pilot.
She believed that the helicopter was understaffed for night flight. Because of the limited field of view of the night vision equipment, two crew members were needed up front to properly view everything in front of and to the side of the helicopter.
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This makes sense. DH was telling me he read there are blind spots. Plus, 2 crew members are responsible for not looking out, but at navigational type screens the whole time.
Here’s an article that addresses what the people recovering the victims have to deal with.
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My dentist (now retired) worked forensics after the crash of flight 255 in 1987. He said it was really, really hard on him - he needed therapy to deal with it. We tend to forget about the trauma experienced by those who assist in recovery and identification.
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My best friend was on the Marine Unit of a law enforcement agency. He’s described the details of recovering bodies in the water for days. It’s terrible.
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They are extremely special people for sure.
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A good article with graphics showing what the Blackhawk could see that night.
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Just back from a craft guild meeting. The treasurer’s flight into National was delayed getting in by 2.5 hours last night.
Why? Because only one runway was open due to lack of air traffic controllers.
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My gosh, air travel has already been difficult the last couple of years with delays and such. If these lay offs adds to the delay process it is going to be faster to travel by car domestically!
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Mid-air collision over regional airport in Arizona today.
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Horribly sad. Two people died. I read that two single engine planes were involved and that the airport is an “uncontrolled field” meaning it does not have an operating air traffic control tower which sounds crazy – but I have no experience/knowledge related to flying airplanes.
We’ve been seeing way too many accidents in the air (actually one is too many).
I believe that there are many uncontrolled fields. I watched a segment on the news yesterday about flying cars, and all I could think about was the potential for more air crashes.
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Gosh, you scared me. But, at least, small planes involved. One crashed and burned and the other landed uneventfully? How is that possible? I am sorry for the loss of two lives.
The overwhelming majority of airports are uncontrolled, but they are not used by commercial passenger planes.
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https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/deaths-by-transportation-mode/
People polled on whether travel by air, foot, car, or train is safe gave results that do not correspond to actual differences in risk.
I think that there is an element of mystery to flying that leads to people worrying that it is not safe. How does a plane take off, how does it stay up? Most people don’t have a clue, and it’s unsettling to feel not just a lack of understanding about the process but also a lack of control of the process. We’re familiar with land transportation, so I think it just “feels” safer as a result.
Good point! I also think many of us have been in car accidents and walked away. It feels fundamentally different than falling out of the sky, even if it happens so infrequently.