Friday, January 31

All 67 people onboard the devastating airborne collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over Washington D.C. have been confirmed dead after an extensive search-and-rescue operation, and several investigations have begun into the cause of the crash.

In case you missed it, the crash occurred just before 9 pm local time on Wednesday night in the Washington D.C. area. American Airlines Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700, was a relatively small flight carrying 64 people from Wichita, Kansas, and it was due to land at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport (DCA) at around 9 pm. The plane was told by local air traffic control to move to another runway, and the plane accordingly shifted its path to make a landing attempt.

However, as the plane came in on its landing attempt, the plane collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, with the pair of aircraft exploding in a fireball before falling into the Potomac River. Sadly, it is the United States' worst aviation disaster since 2001. Read more into the initial crash here.

After an extensive search-and-rescue operation by hundreds of first responders, it was confirmed that all 64 people and the three soldiers aboard the helicopter were killed. Anyone who survived the crash would have quickly died due to hypothermia in the freezing Potomac River, which was a mere 34 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius). At least 28 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage, and rescue operations are continuing on attempt to find the remaining bodies.

Now, both black boxes -- the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder -- have been recovered by authorities, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently analyzing them to find out the true cause of the crash.

However, speculation is everywhere. The military has come under intense scrutiny in recent days after the crash, as helicopter crashes seem to be more common than they should be. In the past 11 years, there have been twelve crashes of the Army's Black Hawk alone, and those crashes have killed a combined total of 47 soldiers. Flying a military helicopter is extremely difficult, though, with extreme precision and skillfulness needed to successfully fly the aircraft. In addition to that, the airspace around DCA is severely affected by light pollution due to its proximity to the city, posing another challenge for military helicopter pilots who usually wear night vision goggles.

Radio messages from local air traffic control confirmed that they had established contact with the helicopter, and the pilot of the helicopter stated that he had the passenger jet in his sights. The air traffic controller requested him to wait for the plane to go by, but there was no reply. The crash occurred just moments later.

Now, the pilot is also coming under scrutiny-- is it possible that the crash was because he did not move the helicopter out of the plane's way? As of right now, it is impossible to know, with the NTSB still investigating the black boxes after they were discovered yesterday.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): The flush toilet was invented in 1596 by Sir John Harrington, the godson of Queen Elizabeth I. While he invented it for her, she refused to use it because she thought it was too noisy. Due to this, the actual first patent for the flush toilet was granted to Alexander Cummings in 1775.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence. (Pythagoras)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Audition (noun, aw-DISH-un) - An audition is a short performance to show the talents of someone (such as an actor or a musician) who is being considered for a role in a play, a position in an orchestra, etc.

In a Sentence: Auditions will be held next week for the spring musical.