HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Within the coming days, we anticipate to listen to lots about security surrounding passenger planes and helicopters after a regional American Airways passenger jet and a Black Hawk navy helicopter collided over Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening.
It is the nation’s first main industrial airline crash since 2009.
No survivors are anticipated from the aircraft crash, D.C. Hearth and EMS Chief John Donnelly stated in a Thursday morning information convention. Crews switched from a search and rescue operation to a restoration mission.
ABC13 spoke with SkyEye reporter Tammy Rose about her expertise flying near airports within the Houston space.
Tammy stated flying in busy airspaces, particularly at evening, can, “frankly, be fairly scary.” She stated the airspace at Reagan Worldwide Airport, the place the crash occurred, is similar to that at Houston’s Interest Airport, the place SkyEye flies out of.
In Houston, the pilot’s first activity is to examine the circumstances at Interest Airport and surrounding airports. The pilot checks issues like short-term flight restrictions, visibility, winds, and ceiling. If something is misplaced, SkyEye stays grounded.
In October of 2024, Houston had its personal incident the place a helicopter crashed right into a radio tower, killing 4 folks. That crash additionally occurred in nighttime circumstances.
Tammy stated that in relation to precautions when flying round different plane, it is the pilot’s job to see and keep away from them. That features ensuring there’s a protected distance between them and the following plane.
If you’re flying in a managed airspace, like close to Interest Airport, the pilot will get instructions from the management tower. Tammy stated they typically wish to hold 1,000 toes between plane vertically and three miles laterally, however that may all change relying on the managed airspace.
Tammy stated, in her opinion, shut calls have grow to be a lot too frequent. Based on the FAA, in 2023, there have been greater than 300 close to misses — a 25% improve over the previous decade.
In 2007, Tammy stated she lined a midair collision between two information media helicopters in Phoenix, Arizona. One of many suggestions that got here out of the FAA investigation was to separate the pilot and reporter’s positions within the helicopter, similar to ABC13 does with SkyEye.
“Lots of people do not understand I’m not the pilot. I’m the reporter. My primary job, at all times, is to be that second set of eyes for the pilot,” Tammy stated.
Tammy emphasised that the FAA and NTSB be taught from all these crashes and can ultimately launch a report with suggestions to make the skies safer.
“My coronary heart simply goes out to all of the household and buddies concerned on this. Clearly, that is at all times behind my thoughts after we’re up there flying,” Tammy stated. “We all know this will occur, so it is simply devastating circumstances what occurred there at Reagan Worldwide Airport.”
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