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how did an American Airlines plane and a
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Blackhawk helicopter end up in a tragic
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crash while the plane was attempting to
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land on Runway 33 in the videos ahead
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we'll take a closer look at the final
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hours leading up to the crash the
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confusion between the pap 25 VIP
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military helicopter and the air traffic
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controller and how the rescue operation
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is being carried out more details all in
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the video
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ahead the plane and departed from WI a
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Dwight D Eisen to National Airport in
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Kansas earlier that
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evening a PSA Airlines aircraft operated
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under American Airlines and identified
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as flight
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aa5342 collided midair with a military
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Blackhawk helicopter at approximately
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9:00 p.m. on Wednesday January 29th
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2025 the tragic incident occurred as the
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plane was making its Final Approach
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toward Reagan Washington National
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Airport in Arlington Virginia American
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Airlines confirmed that 64 people were
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aboard the jet 60 passengers and four
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crew members while three soldiers were
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aboard the military helicopter this
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plane's radio transponder stopped
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transmitting about 2,400 ft which is
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around 730 M short of the runway roughly
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over the middle of the river this has
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marked the first major US commercial
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crash in more than 15
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years from an aerial perspective is
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evident that flight a A5 342 was
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approaching the airport from the south
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descending over the scenic pon omic
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River this area is known for its
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proximity to several iconic landmarks
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such as the Pentagon located nearby in
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Pentagon City to the north one can spot
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the Striking Dome of the United States
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capital building a symbol of American
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democracy the pic river which encircles
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the airport and much of Arlington serves
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as a natural boundary and offers
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breathtaking views for arriving flights
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however this area is also densely
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trafficked both by air and on the ground
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adding to the complexity of air traffic
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traffic Management in the
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region American Airlines flight 5342
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which will refer to as the landing
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flight was on its Final Approach to
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Runway 33 at this stage called short
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final the aircraft was mere moments from
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Landing flying at an altitude of about
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400 ft this is the most critical phase
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of Landing where every second counts and
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Pilots are laser focused on safely
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bringing the plane down at the same time
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an army Blackhawk helicopter identified
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as pack 25 was reportedly on a possible
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training flight it was flying
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perpendicular to the flight path of
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flight
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5342 following the course of the pomac
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river the pomac river is a designated
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flight Corridor for helicopters and it's
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common to see aircraft like this
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operating in the area the key difference
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between the two aircraft in this
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scenario was their operating rules the
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blackhot helicopter Pat 25 was flying
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under visual flight rules this means it
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was required to rely on visual
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observation of its surroundings to avoid
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other air aircraft The Landing flight
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5342 was operating under instrument
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flight rules which give it priority over
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VFR flights in controlled airspace this
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system assumes that VFR aircraft will
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actively maintain visual separation to
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avoid conflicts moments before the
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Collision the air traffic control tower
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at Ronald Reagan Washington National
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Airport called Pat 25 to confirm whether
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they had the other aircraft in sight
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pack 25 responded that they did at first
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glance this seems like an acknowledge M
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that they were aware of flight 53 42's
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presence and were taking steps to avoid
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it however it now seems likely that pack
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25 had mistakenly identified a different
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aircraft possibly a departing flight
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from the same airport and believed that
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was the other aircraft referred to by
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the tower tragically Pat 25 may not have
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realized that flight 5342 was descending
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directly into its path this
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misidentification could have led to the
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Blackhawk failing to adjust its course
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in time to avoid a collision
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although I'm not a pilot this is what
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appears to have happened based on the
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available information it's a
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heartbreaking incident that raises
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questions about how such
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misunderstandings can occur and what
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safety measures can prevent them in the
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future if you have more insight or
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expertise please feel free to share your
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thoughts in the comments the passenger
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plane broke into multiple pieces and
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sank several feet into the river
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meanwhile the helicopter ended up
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Landing upside down on the water
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regarding the rescue mission the main
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challenge is access the water they're
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working in is about 8 ft deep which is
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roughly 2.5 M on top of that the
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conditions are tough there's strong wind
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trunks of ice floating around which
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obstructs rescue
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workers we also have audio from Air
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Traffic Control that has been published
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online capturing the moments as the two
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aircraft approach each other in the
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recording we can hear a
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conversation
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fight it appears to involve the air
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traffic controller with P standing for
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priority Air transport report the
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helicopter and crj referring to the
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passenger
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plane
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crj the response seems to come from a
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helicopter but something goes terribly
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wrong has
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airra the two aircraft continue and move
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closer to each other until they crash
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and there was no response from the other
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side this long shot video recorded by
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the Kenby Center cam seems to show two
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aircraft a helicopter and a commercial
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airliner colliding creating a huge
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flash if you take a close-up shot you
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can clearly see the Blackhawk helicopter
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traveling at an alarmingly high speed
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directly towards the plane a moment of
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impending danger captured in Stark
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detail according to reports the
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situation unfolded due to apparent
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confusion on the part of the Blackhawk
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pilot he was seemingly unaware of the
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presence of a second aircraft in the
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vicinity which ultimately led to a
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critical misjudgment when the flight
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controller radioed in asking if the
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pilot had identified flight
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5342 the pilot confidently confirmed
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that he had visual contact however the
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plane he was referring to wasn't flight
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5342 it was a completely different
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aircraft flying above his position this
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misidentification proved costly the
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pilot certain he was operating safely
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continued his course tragically he ended
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up flying directly into the path of an
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oncoming aircraft the sequence of events
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highlights the immense complexity and
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risks of Aviation where even small
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communication errors or lapses in
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situational awareness can lead to
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dangerous life-threatening outcomes
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let's take a look at a different case
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scenario of a juu airflight
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2216 this South Korean Airline was
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granted permission to land from the
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south on Runway one northward but
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control tower cautions against Bird
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activity so the aircraft made a slight
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deviation in flight path the pilot
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declares Mayday after it hit a couple of
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birds and it was instructed to make a go
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around and land on Runway 19
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softward it was at this moment the
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airplane encountered another problem
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with the landing gear which did not open
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finally the plane had to make a belly
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landing with what was supposedly a
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landing gear failure because it hit in
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the middle of the runway and crashed
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into the elevated local lizer antena and
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concrete erupting into a huge Fireball
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while the tail section remained
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intact morning 857 a TC broadcast a
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cautionary advisory about Bird activity
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in the vicinity of the airport
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report 859 the pilot of flight 7 C2 216
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reports at bird strike declares an
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emergency with repeated this is what he
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said Mayday Mayday Mayday calls and
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notifies a TC with the
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message bird strike bird strike go round
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just 1 minute after the bird strike at
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9:00 the flight initiates a go round
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maneuver and requests authorization to
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land on Runway 19 which requires an
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approach from the opposite end of the
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airport single Runway that is from the
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north to the South which is not the
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actual Landing
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procedure usually then Land from the
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south to the north 9:01 in the morning
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ATC clears the aircraft to land on
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Runway 19 92 local time the aircraft
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touches down on the runway approximately
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1,200 M which translates to
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3,940 Ft from the threshold of the 2,800
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M this is around
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9,184 Ft Runway 9:02 and 55 seconds
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later the airport fire Rescue Unit
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completes the deployment of fire rescue
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equipment 903 flight 7c 2216 overshoots
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the runway and crashes into a hill like
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structure beyond the runway's end which
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later on we came to know that it hit the
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localizer antenna and its adjacent
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concrete
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embankment and finally we have a missile
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attack plane crash at 10:43 a.m. kazak
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time which
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Russia's rostov Air Traffic Control
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Center received a signal indicating that
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the crew had decided to divert the
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flight to ACTA due to adverse weather
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conditions in Baku and makatala a city
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in Russia's dagistan region at 10:53
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a.m. the rosto flight director informed
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Ecto flight manager that an oxygen tank
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in the passenger cabin had exploded this
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explosion reportedly caused passengers
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to lose Consciousness prompting the crew
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to request immediate medical assistance
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upon Landing
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emergency teams were swiftly mobilized
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at actop airport in preparation for the
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aircraft's arrival at 11:2 a.m. the
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pilots made contact with ACTA Airport's
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air traffic control tower despite their
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efforts the crew faced significant
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challenges during their descent they
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attempted to land twice but were unable
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to maintain altitude or stabilize the
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aircraft tragically at 11:28 a.m.
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contact with the crew was lost and
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moments later the plane crashed the
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ground this means the plane was hit
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between 10 30 to 10:53 a.m. kazak time
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by the Russian anti-air defense system
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in this scenario the plane is flying a
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significantly higher altitude rendering
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the Cannons
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ineffective consequently the system opts
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to deploy a missile as the optimal
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weapon for engagement the missile is
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launched vertically from its sealed
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chemister it uses its Advanced onboard
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guidance system to navigate with
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Precision towards the designated Target
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as the missile approaches its onboard
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sensors continue to track the civilian
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aircraft which in this case Is
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tragically identified as an azeron
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civilian aircraft the missile carries a
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25 kg high explosive Warhead upon
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reaching the target the Warhead
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detonates releasing an intense explosion
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the explosion occurs near the side of
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the aircraft causing catastrophic damage
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to its tail section the resulting
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shrapnel penetrates the fuselage
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inflicting severe termal structural
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damage this devastating impact
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destabilizes the aircraft leading to an
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uncontrollable descent this severely
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damaged plane crashes near actop airport
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resulting in a tragic loss of life and a
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devastating outcome for all those on
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board we make original videos from
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