(Fri, February 28, 2025) Reuter via Yahoo: Trump Marine One helicopter trip disrupts flights at Washington airport. My advice for ordinary people is: avoid Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) if possible. Quote below:
Reagan National is home to the single busiest runway in the United States, and served 26.3 million passengers in 2024, a new record.
(02-27-2025 Thursday) CNN – Elon Musk says upgrade of FAA’s air traffic control system is failing and SpaceX needs to take over Verizon’s contract
(02-26-2025 Wednesday) Quote CNN article below – American Airlines flight forced to abort landing at Reagan National Airport to avoid another plane | CNN
Less than 90 minutes later at another major US air travel hub – Chicago Midway International Airport – a Southwest Airlines flight was forced to abandon its landing at the last minute as a private jet crossed the runway it was approaching.
The Southwest flight was arriving from Omaha, Nebraska, and the private jet, a Bombardier Challenger 350, was headed to Knoxville, Tennessee, according to FlightRadar24. Air traffic control instructed the private jet to hold short of the runway, but video shows it continued across as the Southwest flight touched down.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement on X, “It is imperative that pilots follow the instructions of air traffic controllers. If they do not, their licenses will be pulled.” Duffy said he would provide additional updates when they become available.
My comment: when you have a part time Fox News person doing the top DoT job, that’s what you get. Refer to my earlier blog post in Chinese 草台班子还是嫩点.
(Update 02-19-2025 Wednesday) It feels like there are suddenly way more plane crashes and incidents. Here’s the truth
Deadly small plane collision in Arizona, officials say (CBS News via YT).
(Update 02-17-2025 Monday) Delta plane upside down in Toronto after landing incident | Special Report (CBS News via YT).
(Update 02-07-2025) We had two more crashes since the 01-29-2025 night DC helicopter / airplane mid-air collision. The Philly medvac airplane crash and Alaska crash.
(Update 01-31-2025) CNN – YT – FAA indefinitely closes helicopter routes near Reagan National Airport
NPR: Editor’s note: Reporting the midair collision will focus on facts and people’s stories
(Original 01-30-2025) First, condolences to the people who lost their loved ones last night. I saw a husband on twitter/X and I cannot imagine his pain. Also, it seems quite a few elite figure skaters lost their lives.
I recall the most significant commercial airplane crash since 9-11, in terms of number of lives lost, was Colgan Air Flight 3407. I actually talked about it a few years ago. The main reason for the crash was pilot error. From that incident I learned the small airplane pilots don’t have as good training as larger airplanes, and they make very little money (thus impacting their living conditions including sleeping conditions).
I tried to avoid smaller airplanes when I flew after that – mainly any planes smaller than Boeing 737 or Airbus 320 series. That’s also the main motivation I changed my “10 to 20% travel” consultant job at Autodesk then – I thought a 9 to 5 office job is better as we were expecting our 1st kid then. (Update -2-14-2025) (simpleflying.com) United Express CRJ550 Skids Off Taxiway In St. Louis: quote a last paragraph – Nonetheless, it does highlight some of the issues and challenges associated with regional jet operations. These aircraft are smaller and, often, air traffic controllers will be managing a handful of identical regional jets. Furthermore, the pilots operating these flights will typically have less experience than those operating larger mainline jets, due to the lower pay and more exhausting schedules.
Reference:
List of fatal accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft in the United States
Last but not least, everyone is the VIP of someone in this world. For example, I am my wife and my kids’ VIP. Vice versa. I want to emphasize that because the black hawk helicopter is often used in the DC for shuttling so called “VIPs”.
ABC News via YT – Capt. Sully Sullenberger reacts to deadly DC plane crash
‘We have lost family’: Skating club CEO reacts to Washington D.C. plane collision
Some skaters skate
President Obama spoke about the Continental Airlines crash (2009, 1 min 7 sec)