15 Seconds from Landing
Trajectories of tragedy when expectations are not met tend to create confusion.
Unmet expectations
Warning! Warning! Warning! Crash! Crash! Crash! As the control tower warned the Blackhawk helicopter to watch out for planes in the air, the voice response was visual confirmation. What caused the mid-air collision?
How it happened
Multiple news sources are reporting and surmizing (“suppose that something is true without having evidence to confirm it”).
What happened? As the press interviews other pilots and control tower operators, multiple viewpoints suggest that the American Airlines pilot did nothing wrong. He followed orders. He was on the path.
Look at the map. Hear a pilot analyze the possible scenario.
On January 29, 2025, a devastating mid-air collision occurred near Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, involving an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. Tragically, all 64 passengers and crew aboard the jet, as well as the three military personnel on the helicopter, lost their lives. CNN.COM In this video, Captain Steeeve provides a somber and educational analysis of the events leading up to this tragedy. We delve into the available air traffic control (ATC) communications to understand the sequence of events and explore potential factors that may have contributed to the accident. Our aim is to honor the memory of those lost by learning from this incident and highlighting the critical importance of aviation safety protocols.
Tragedy over the Potomac
From the initial trajectories, the helicopter was traveling alongside the Potomac River. The airplane was lining up to land in the next 15 seconds. At about 400 feet above ground, the helicopter broadsided the plane.
Unmet expectations of arrival
If anyone has flown on an airplane, the expectation of getting there safely is standard procedure. However the policies, procedures, and problems on the night of January 29, 2025 in the city of the nation’s capitol revealed multiple missteps.
Clues emerging from the moments before the deadly collision Wednesday night between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet suggest that multiple layers of the country’s aviation safety apparatus failed, according to flight recordings, a preliminary internal report from the Federal Aviation Administration, interviews with current and former air traffic controllers and others briefed on the matter.” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/business/dc-plane-helicopter-crash-cause.html
Life goes on for those left behind.
Being prepared to die
Shocking and sudden, unexpected and tragic, the deaths of 67 people gets our attention easily. Are you ready to die if that happened to you? Do you know what will happen 1 second after you die?
A Call to "Almost" Christian
“If the wondrous love of God in Jesus is not sufficient to attract you to Him, then I place such value on the worth of your souls that I’m happy to alarm you with your need to remind you that to spend an eternity without God will mean eternal remorse. It will mean eternal misery. It will mean eternal wretchedness, and you can have eternal remorse.”
What do I have to do to become a Christian?
Believe in my heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead and give public profession and confession of it with my mouth, and then you will go to heaven. Pray just a simple prayer.
“Dear Lord Jesus I confess that I am a guilty lost and helpless sinner I want you to save me to take your rightful place as Lord of my life. I want to turn from my wavering and for my sin to live for you. I want to thank you for the promise that if I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth that your word says I will be saved.”
Two kinds of people
What do I need to do to go to hell?
Absolutely nothing! Absolutely nothing. Unmet expectations blindside us and we miss the turn.