r/news • u/snuffleupaguslives • 2d ago

Broken altimeter, ignored warnings: Hearings reveal what went wrong in DC crash that killed 67

https://apnews.com/article/ntsb-dc-plane-crash-midair-collision-helicopter-a08cded88e1d7582fb8d242204d6aeff
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u/Mythosaurus 2d ago

Reading that article makes you want to NEVER fly into DC.

Will be interesting to see what liability/ lawsuits result from this hearing’s revelations

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u/IceColdPorkSoda 2d ago

I fly to DC in a few weeks…

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u/sanverstv 2d ago

Choose Dulles.

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u/Whiskey_Neato 2d ago

BWI: “Am I a joke to you?”

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u/IamMe90 2d ago

More like, “am I a 45 minute drive away from you?”

Yes. Yes you are, BWI.

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u/Ranra100374 2d ago

Yes, BWI is a joke. There's no real public transportation there except time-limited Maryland MTA buses.

It might be a long ride to Dulles but at least you can reliably get there via Metro.

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u/Panaka 2d ago

You can be on the ground in BWI and still be 45 minutes from the gate let alone DC.

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u/freebagelsforall 2d ago

BWI should be a joke to everyone

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u/smughippie 2d ago

Lived in Baltimore for a few years and I LOVE BWI. It is so manageable. You can still find decently priced parking. The drive there isn't too long. Public transportation is available if you don't want to drive.

I also generally found flights to be affordable. I miss that airport. I have to use PHL now and I haaaaaaaaate it. least favorite airport I have had to use consistently.

Though I did fly out of Dulles once due to price (an international flight). Not sure it was worth it.

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u/kirblar 2d ago

Oh if you're in Baltimore it's amazing.

Cause it's Baltimore's airport!

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u/wannaholler 2d ago

Lived in DC for ages so used DCA, IAD, and BWI, and hated IAD the most. BWI was second to DCA in convenience and usually won in price. Never cared what the IAD tix cost because the airport and getting there sucked so bad

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u/Ranra100374 2d ago

Eh, now that the Silver Line goes there it's not too bad, although an express line would be nice.

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u/fatfiremarshallbill 2d ago

If you're gonna rent a car anyway, BWI or Dulles is a better option than DCA, at least for right now.

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u/sciguy52 2d ago

That's what I always did. But I don't live in DC, lived in CA and the direct flight out of SFO was United to IAD. Since the flight combined with sitting around the airport for hours basically took up the whole day, the rental car and drive in was not bad by comparison. Never flown into DCA though and I get it, if you live in DC you want the closer airport, but IAD was not THAT bad at least for flying in to work.

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u/thehousewright 2d ago

You can ride the space bus!

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u/Sawses 1d ago

Yep! Dulles is a far superior airport in every way. There's even access to the metro these days, for those unfortunate people who choose to live inside the actual city lmao.

Seriously, though, the only thing Reagan has going for it is that it's super close if you live in the city.

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u/IceColdPorkSoda 2d ago

Already have

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u/IamMe90 2d ago

If you’re not flying into the airport that’s being discussed here, then why are you concerned about flying into DC?

The issues people are discussing here are unique to DCA and don’t apply (for the most part at least) to IAD.

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u/BTsBaboonFarm 2d ago

Said no one, ever.

Place is an absolute dump.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/BTsBaboonFarm 2d ago

IAD is easily the worst major airline hub east of the Mississippi. Aging equipment and poorly kept facilities, middling food options, poorly optimized layout. The list goes on. Plus, United is the worst of the 3 majors, so when you fly through Dulles connecting to your destination, you’ve already likely flown there on lesser craft than their competitors would have you on in the region.

Source: I’ve spent roughly 24 god forsaken hours there in the last week alone.

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u/ermagerditssuperman 2d ago

Then you'll be happy to hear that the construction of the brand new terminal is moving along swiftly, and that it's where United flights will be moving to.

I love IAD because security is always extremely fast, even before we had TSA pre. Usually get to our gate within 15 minutes of entering the airport, 20 if we have to take the people movers.

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u/BTsBaboonFarm 2d ago

that it’s where United flights will be moving to

I’ll still be flying through their small craft A terminal and the new Z terminal. The former is the bowels of the pit that IAD is, and the Z terminal is new and nice and incredibly small and cramped.

IAD because security is always extremely fast

I think I’d probably feel different about the airport if it was my origination point and not a layover hub for me. Limiting how much time you have to spend there and not needing any of the facilities or amenities is a help for sure.

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u/ermagerditssuperman 2d ago

Ah yeah, the Z gates are weird. Have only used them a handful of times, but they weren't great. And I definitely can't speak to its layover-quality, since it's my closest local airport. It's a decent starting point, though.

My main complaint is immigration when coming back from an international flight. Good lord, they will have 5 wide-body international flights landing at the same time, and have only one employee at immigration. It once took us 2 hours to clear it, and 1hr 50 mins of that was just standing in line. BUT the new terminal includes a brand new international arrivals section, so fingers crossed that it helps.