Richmond-area expert explains how air traffic control works with combination of commercial, military aircraft

RICHMOND, Va. — Reagan National Airport (DCA) is widely considered to be one of the more stressful airports in the country when it comes to directing flights, given the intersection of commercial and military aircraft. 

A Richmond-area aviation expert knows firsthand just how hard that job is. 

Dr. Amber McCraw is the CEO of AeroQuest, an aerospace research and innovation company headquartered in Henrico County. 

McCraw, a former FAA senior program analyst and United States Air Force veteran, worked as a military air traffic controller and has experience directing military and civilian flights at busy airports.

“There is a very high standard for controller actions, which includes maintaining positive control and ensuring pilot readbacks,” said McCraw. “Positive control means you don't wait and see what is going to happen, you make it happen by taking steps to ensure aircraft separation at all times.” 

COMPLETE COVERAGE: American Airlines flight and Army chopper collision kills 67 people

Regarding the investigations into Wednesday night’s deadly collision, McCraw says the FAA, NTSB and Army will evaluate the recorded tapes and all the circumstances to determine the cause of the accident.

“Which could be an equipment malfunction, a pilot failure, a controller failure, or some combination of these factors that ultimately led to the crash,” said McCraw.

A former Black Hawk helicopter pilot gave his thoughts on the collision during an interview with CBS News.

Retired Lt. Col. Darin Gaub lives in Montana, but previously served in the Army’s presidential honor guard at the old Fort Myer, next to Arlington National Cemetery. A bronze star recipient, Gaub flew Black Hawks for 20 years, including deployments in Afghanistan and multiple assignments across the United States. 

After watching some of the videos of the crash, he said he’s left wondering why the helicopter never turned, and apparently never saw the airplane.

“Based on that, I’m wondering if potentially they confused the aircraft that you saw on takeoff with the one they thought they were supposed to follow behind per the air traffic control directions and didn’t see the one landing,” said Gaub. “Now, these are all hypotheticals.” 

The fact that the chopper had just one crew chief, and not two, could also be a factor that needs to be investigated, Gaub said. 

Regarding visibility, Gaub said the situation inside the Black Hawk is generally good, but acknowledged the area around DCA is very dense, so there is a high-risk factor.

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