Staffing levels at Reagan National Airport's air traffic control tower were below normal during Wednesday night's tragedy, according to the FAA, but retired American Airlines pilot Richard Levy tells NPR that he can find no fault with the instructions the controller gave both aircraft. The Wall Street Journal reports that the controller "relayed a seemingly ordinary inquiry and instruction" just after 8:47pm.
- "PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," the controller asked the Black Hawk helicopter, using the aviation shorthand for Canadair Regional Jet to refer to the American Airlines Bombardier jet that was moments away from landing.
- The pilot responded that he saw the jet and would use "visual separation," meaning that he "would keep an eye on the aircraft and make sure he was staying a safe distance away," per the New York Times. It's not clear, however, whether the pilot was looking at the correct aircraft, NPR notes.
- Seconds later, the two aircraft collided. A scream of "Oh my...!" could be heard in the background of transmissions as air traffic control scrambled to reroute flights to other airports, the Journal reports.
- An alert sounded from the control tower at 8:48pm, the Washington Post reports. "Crash crash crash. This an alert 3. Crash crash crash."
Levy tells NPR that the controller appeared to have been doing a "magnificent job" of guiding the aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board says its investigation will examine the role played by controllers, the
Post reports. According to the preliminary FAA report, the role of helicopter controller is normally staffed until 9:30pm but it had been combined with the role of local controller at the time of the crash. (More
Potomac plane crash stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
