A pilot’s perspective with the fatal American Airlines crash in D.C.

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A pilot’s perspective with the American Airlines crash in D.C.

Robert Katz has been flying for over four decades, he provided a pilot's perspective on the fatal American Airlines crash in Washington D.C.

An airplane and helicopter crash happened just outside of the nation’s capitol at the Ronald Reagan National Airport. Many are struggling to understand what went wrong. Robert Katz, a commercial pilot and flight instructor for nearly four decades provided a pilot’s perspective on what happened.

Katz spent the last couple of days reviewing the flight maps and air traffic conversations. He analyzed dialogue between the air traffic control tower, commercial pilot, and military helicopter. Katz says that the air traffic controller and commercial pilot’s actions were “text book.”

“The controller asks the helicopter pilot, ‘Do you have this traffic in sight?’ The helicopter pilot responds very clearly that he does have this traffic in sight. At that moment, based on how the air traffic system works in the United States, the responsibility for separation between the helicopter and the American Airlines jet falls squarely on the shoulders of the helicopter pilot. The controller’s obligation to separation and safety has been met,” Katz said.

“He reaches out to the helicopter pilot. ‘Do you have this airplane in sight?’ ‘Yes, I do.’ ‘Pass behind the jet.’ He did not pass behind the jet. Either he passed directly in front of him or underneath him, and that’s where contact was made. The failure, I believe, in my opinion only, is this helicopter pilot became distracted by whatever was going on inside the helicopter. That’s why he drifted across the river and into the path of this descending airliner.”

It’s being called the worst air disaster in a generation. On Wednesday night, the midair collision between an army helicopter and jetliner killed 67 people. When asked about what was the main contributing factor to the fatal crash, Katz says from a pilot’s perspective it was from human error from the helicopter.

“This is the system in the United States it’s based on see and avoid. Once a pilot calls traffic in sight, that pilot is now solely obligated to maintain visual separation from that traffic,” Katz said. “Or report that he has lost sight of that traffic, which this helicopter pilot never did. The weak link in the chain here will always be the human factor. We are human beings, we make mistakes, we are fallible. It can be either a pilot or a controller. It happens. Unfortunately it happened here in this fashion.”

In with his professional opinion, Katz says the lives of over 60 people were not lost from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace.

“The FAA has a screening process that all air traffic controllers must meet. That includes mental faculties and cognitive function and stuff like that. So what Donald Trump is spewing is just pure vitriol, and I don’t support any of that.”

The helicopter pilot was given instructions to avoid the jetliner. Aside from visual confirmation of the plane, the military chopper didn’t relay their next plan of action. Katz says having constant communication between air traffic control and a pilot is critical for the safety of all passengers.

“We as pilots have the option to refuse any instruction that a controller ever issues, including a runway change. We have a magic word in our vocabulary called unable. Unable means I don’t want, I don’t need or I can’t. I don’t need to explain myself. All I need to say is unable and we’re gonna reset to another plan.”

From a pilot’s perspective, Katz says the most challenging variable are mistakes from human error. He says most of the time, fatal plane crashes are avoided with clear lines of communication.

“What’s really scary is that this intrinsic limitation in our system of see and avoid is ubiquitous. It’s everywhere in the United States,” Katz said. “There are close calls every day of the week somewhere. We don’t hear about them, because they are resolved in time.”

WDIO News reached out to Duluth International Airport, the FAA, and several local flying schools to talk about the fatal American Airlines crash in Washington D.C. However, none agreed to go on camera for an interview.