Aaron Murphy is a commercial pilot who was able to provide some perspective on what the cockpit of the American Airlines plane may have looked like moments before Wednesday’s deadly crash.
Using a flight simulator, Murphy shows what the approach to Reagan National Airport was like at the same time as the collision.
“It can be very difficult to see other moving vehicles,” said Murphy. “Not only that, but then you have moving vehicles on the roadways in the lights… Sometimes things just unfold in a way you don’t expect.”
Murphy says the the approach to Reagan is a known “hotspot” for high traffic.
And because it’s so complicated, pilots receive “specialized training” about the descent to DCA.
“Even though you brief it, and discuss it, and you’re ready, this is a perfect example of how sometimes things don’t unfold in a way you expect,” said Murphy. “Something happened that was different enough to bring the airplanes together, the aircrafts together.”
Murphy says there are lessons to be learned from this tragedy.
“We need to get deeper into the procedures of how the helicopters are flying up and down the river, and now the aircrafts are approaching and doing that circling approach to land on 33,” said Murphy.
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