Reading all the “no VIPs” on the helicopter or in the crash in DC and seeing it on the media just breaks my heart.
EVERYONE who lost their life in the American Airlines plane and on the Blackhawk was SOMEBODY’S Very Important Person.
I was a Blackhawk helicopter crew chief in the Army.
I was even a Flight Instructor. This means that I trained Crew Chiefs and ensured that they completed all training annually to maintain their flight ratings.
One massive responsibility we had was to be the eyes for the pilots. We handled airspace obstacle avoidance and communicated potential risks to the pilots.
Quite often we would train as a flight of 2 or 3 birds flying in formation.
It was my job to have my head out the window and tell the pilots that the aircraft behind us was "staggered right at 3 discs". (We measured close distances in terms of the diameter of our rotor discs).
I can tell you after doing this for hundreds of hours, even when you know EXACTLY where a Blackhawk is, and you have night vision goggles on, it is EXTREMELY hard to SEE the aircraft.
These birds are designed to be hard to see at night.
The red and green lights on the side get lost in the lights of the city below. The only "lights" on top of the aircraft are called "slime lights" because they are a very very very dim green.
Incredibly difficult to see.
If you are above the helicopter, even if it has it flood light or spot light (2 different lights) on, underneath it, it is still hard to see the bird because all of that illumination is below the airframe.
Another thing people should know is just how busy things can get on the aircraft.
Pilots are talking to each other about what they are observing on the instrument panels. This means neither are looking outside the aircraft.
The crew chief might be conducting a fuel check, where we would also be looking up into the cockpit at the fuel gages and the clock.
This CAN lead to moments where all 3 people on the aircraft are all looking inside the aircraft.
It's not supposed to happen that way. We are supposed to announce when we are "coming inside" or are "back outside" the aircraft. But that doesn't always happen.
Also, in cities like DC, the radio traffic is constant and can make it hard to filter out what is important for you to listen to.
Checking instruments, doing math, reading checklists, and listening to multiple radios all at the same time is HARD. Mistakes happen.
Anyone out there telling you that they find the aircraft collision to be suspect, have NEVER been in a flight crew and they have ZERO idea what they are talking about.
Ignore them all. Better yet, mock the hell out of them.
999 times out of 1000 aircraft incidents always come down to a series of pilot and crew errors.
Humans are involved. They aren't perfect.
Tonight, my heart and mind is with the families of those involved in this tragic event.
I won't join the chorus of idiots making speculations.
I’m sorry I couldn’t properly lead to this beautiful tribute the @CollegeGameDay put together. Really wanted to thank all of you for the avalanche of love and support you’ve shown Ben. It gives me and my family such comfort knowing how he impacted so many peoples lives around the country. He was a beautiful and loving soul.
So, I've been thinking a lot about that viral Patrick Mahomes interceptions overturned by penalty statistic from the weekend. It felt like a bad-faith use of data. I went and took a closer look to see if that was true. 🧵
All things are possible with God and your work.
Faith without works is dead.
God does not expect you to do it all by yourself, but he also doesn’t expect you to sit around and not do anything to achieve your goals.
Taylor Swift has donated $100,000 to the GoFundMe for the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, who was tragically shot and killed during the #Chiefs Super Bowl parade.
The goal was $75,000. 🙏
Kids can’t go to school.
Believers can’t go to church.
Families can’t go to the grocery store.
Friends can’t go to a concert.
And now fans can’t go to a SUPER BOWL PARADE without the real fear of being a part of a mass shooting in America. WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Please join me in prayer for all the victims in this heinous act.
Pray that doctors & first responders would have steady hands & that all would experience full healing.
“how about that one huh”
“what’s up sweetie”
“i’ve never seen you like that”
“that was insane i can’t believe it”
“i love you”
*WHEELS SCREECHING CAR CRASHHHH*
https://t.co/keUrBQrlpc