Latest news is that PAT25 was over their cleared ceiling.
They were at 400', their clearance was not above 200'.
Now, there's a good question to be asked in there about why DCA's controllers and the FAA were willing to live with 200' of vertical separation less than a mile from the threshold of a runway...
As for why, because apparently it's common for helis to practice, and if you're deconflicting visually both hundreds of feet under the flight path and behind it (when it's near that flight level) it should be safe. Has been for a long time, anyway
I found a post where a pilot claimed there was a 200' VFR corridor allowing government helos to go UNDER DCA's approach glideslope.
I can't seem to find said post now. But, breitbart is now also mentioning the same point, albeit in less detail. So I have no reason to doubt the existence of such a clearance.
"For safety reasons, the altitude on those helicopter flights is capped at 200 feet."
Overworked ATC?
Seems to be helicopter pilot was the one who fucked up primarily
Latest news is that PAT25 was over their cleared ceiling.
They were at 400', their clearance was not above 200'.
Now, there's a good question to be asked in there about why DCA's controllers and the FAA were willing to live with 200' of vertical separation less than a mile from the threshold of a runway...
Jfc. Retards. That's even worse.
Do you have a source?
As for why, because apparently it's common for helis to practice, and if you're deconflicting visually both hundreds of feet under the flight path and behind it (when it's near that flight level) it should be safe. Has been for a long time, anyway
I found a post where a pilot claimed there was a 200' VFR corridor allowing government helos to go UNDER DCA's approach glideslope.
I can't seem to find said post now. But, breitbart is now also mentioning the same point, albeit in less detail. So I have no reason to doubt the existence of such a clearance.
"For safety reasons, the altitude on those helicopter flights is capped at 200 feet."
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/31/video-new-angle-shows-how-midair-washington-plane-helicopter-crash-unfolded/
As for PAT 25's altitude, it's already known to have been 300-400 feet just based on 5342's ADSB.
That could be a possibility as well. Someone messed up big time and is probably looking at a prison sentence.