“This is incredibly rare for there to actually be a collision,” Dr. Ella Atkins, an aerospace engineer at Virginia Tech stated.
A rare but deadly accident in the skies led to the loss of at least 67 lives in the D.C. area early this morning.
“The aircraft was in a vulnerable position—you are right next to the runway at such a low altitude, your flaps down, gear down, going slow to land in a short distance. you don’t have alot of options, you cant maneuver aggressively which meant they were committed to landing on that runway, they were not the ones that should have gotten out of the way. It was the helicopter that needed to get out the way."
Dr. Ella Atkins, aerospace engineer at Virginia Tech
It is considered one of the worst air disasters in a generation.
“In my opinion, there was pilot error on the part of the Black Hawk crew. This was a very unfortunate incident. It’s going to be investigated carefully, there are going to be remedies proposed in how air traffic controllers interact with aircraft. There may very well be changes to the helicopter route over the Potomac.”
Dr. Ella Atkins, aerospace engineer at Virginia Tech
According to the Associated Press, a report from the FAA indicates staffing was “not normal” in the air traffic control tower at the time of the crash.
You can watch the full interview we held with Dr. Atkins here.