Another Police Helicopter

[dbacksfan 2.0]

https://defensescoop.com/2025/01/30/army-helicopter-black-hawk-fatal-crash-potomac-not-using-ai-sources-say/

Would be implemented with defense contractor lockheed martin. 

So according to the article, 3 years ago Lockheed Martin did a couple of experimental flights with MX versions of a UH-60. Seems that people made a huge stretch from a couple of very controlled experimental flights to they've been conducting flights up and down the Potomac in extremely congested airspace.

[Red Arrow]

§ 91.217 Data correspondence between automatically reported pressure altitude data and the pilot's altitude reference.

(a) No person may operate any automatic pressure altitude reporting equipment associated with a radar beacon transponder—

(1) When deactivation of that equipment is directed by ATC;

(2) Unless, as installed, that equipment was tested and calibrated to transmit altitude data corresponding within 125 feet (on a 95 percent probability basis) of the indicated or calibrated datum of the altimeter normally used to maintain flight altitude, with that altimeter referenced to 29.92 inches of mercury for altitudes from sea level to the maximum operating altitude of the aircraft; or

(3) Unless the altimeters and digitizers in that equipment meet the standards of TSO-C10b and TSO-C88, respectively.

(b) No person may operate any automatic pressure altitude reporting equipment associated with a radar beacon transponder or with ADS-B Out equipment unless the pressure altitude reported for ADS-B Out and Mode C/S is derived from the same source for aircraft equipped with both a transponder and ADS-B Out.

[Doc. No. 18334, 54 FR 34304, Aug. 18, 1989, as amended by Amdt. 91-314, 75 FR 30193, May 28, 2010]

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Red, so if I'm reading correctly from your comment and and some searching on that regulation, it means that to report ADS-B it must use the aircrafts actual altimeter  and be certified accurate to within 125' based on using 29.92 ins. mercury, or sea level and certified for that particular altitude system in the aircraft. Am I at least in the park and it's not Yellowstone?

[Red Arrow]

Red, so if I'm reading correctly from your comment and and some searching on that regulation, it means that to report ADS-B it must use the aircrafts actual altimeter  and be certified accurate to within 125' based on using 29.92 ins. mercury, or sea level and certified for that particular altitude system in the aircraft. Am I at least in the park and it's not Yellowstone?

Not quite.  The altitude source can be an encoding altimeter (with electronics to communicate with the transponder) or it can be another device called a blind encoder (also with electronics to communicate with the transponder). A blind encoder is connected to the aircraft static pressure system, same as the altimeter, but the pilot cannot see or adjust it.  In either case, it must be tested every other (2) year for accuracy.  Large aircraft may have some other device as part of a Flight Management System but those are beyond my knowledge base.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Not quite.  The altitude source can be an encoding altimeter (with electronics to communicate with the transponder) or it can be another device called a blind encoder (also with electronics to communicate with the transponder). A blind encoder is connected to the aircraft static pressure system, same as the altimeter, but the pilot cannot see or adjust it.  In either case, it must be tested every other (2) year for accuracy.  Large aircraft may have some other device as part of a Flight Management System but those are beyond my knowledge base.

Thanks, helps me kind of put the nuts and bolts together to understand it.

[whoatown]

Thanks, helps me kind of put the nuts and bolts together to understand it.

GPS has a similar error.

What's your altitude?

I don't know.  Somewhere between the ground and the sky with a margin for error.  The devices give different readings where it says I'm at.  But close enough for government work.

[whoatown]

https://citizenwatchreport.com/the-ntsbs-black-box-data-just-confirmed-what-we-all-feared-this-crash-wasnt-just-bad-luck/

Blackbox recovered from blackhawk.

Anything from altimeter malfunction to night goggles limiting vision.

Commercial jet tries unsuccessfully to make effective evasive manuever.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

https://citizenwatchreport.com/the-ntsbs-black-box-data-just-confirmed-what-we-all-feared-this-crash-wasnt-just-bad-luck/

Blackbox recovered from blackhawk.

Anything from altimeter malfunction to night goggles limiting vision.

Commercial jet tries unsuccessfully to make effective evasive manuever.

[whoatown]

https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/tpd-breaks-ground-on-new-police-heliport

A new heliport to boot

[whoatown]

I heard something going over.

I checked flight program online.

Ah, it was broadcasting ads-b.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/tpd-breaks-ground-on-new-police-heliport

A new heliport to boot

Well when you consider the building they are using at the old Tulsa North Airport for offices was build sometime in the late 50's early 60's and the hanger is a corrugated metal building from the early 90's that might hous two helicopters they definitely need a new location.

They really had three options, build it at TIA, Riverside, or their own location. Putting at the academy has the advantages of not being in the middle of landing and take off operations.

[patric]

WASHINGTON — The Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on aviation, space and innovation held a hearing Thursday about the collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet over the Potomac River on Jan. 29 that killed 67 people.

One of the key sticking points during the hearing had to do with a transmission system, known as ADS-B, on many aircraft that broadcast its position, direction, speed and other flight data. Notably, this system updates every second, whereas radars update every 4 seconds; time that's crucial in a situation where aircraft are so close.

Most Army helicopter flights in the Washington, D.C., area did not transmit ADS-B data, and many commercial aircraft are only equipped to transmit data about their own flights, not to receive data from other aircraft, according to senators.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy noted that the helicopter involved in the accident had not transmitted any ADS-B data at all, on any flight, in at least 730 days.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, chair of the full Senate Commerce Committee, said in his opening statement that he was "at a loss" as to why Army policy stated that ADS-B transmissions were not to be used, even on routine flights.

Rocheleau, the acting FAA administrator, said that the agency would require ADS-B broadcasts from all flights in the Washington Airspace starting today.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/03/27/senate-aviation-subcommittee-dca-safety-hearing/82673929007/

The U.S. Army's head of aviation Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman acknowledged that as of Thursday morning helicopters were still flying over the nation's capital with a key system broadcasting their locations turned off during most missions because it deemed them sensitive.
When the NTSB checked the rest of the unit's helicopters after the crash, it found eight of them that hadn't transmitted since 2023.
https://fortune.com/2025/03/28/secret-service-anti-drone-test-dc-flights-urgent-cockpit-alerts/

[dbacksfan 2.0]

So, my non-expert opinion on DCA is that civilian and commercial flights need to be moved to Dulles and Baltimore and DCA made a military/government operations only airport. Close the routes flying up and down the Potomac River.

First thing that will happen is all the members of the Senate and Congress will have their heads explode because they will have to go to Dulles to catch getaway flights.

[Red Arrow]

So, my non-expert opinion on DCA is that civilian and commercial flights need to be moved to Dulles and Baltimore and DCA made a military/government operations only airport. Close the routes flying up and down the Potomac River.

First thing that will happen is all the members of the Senate and Congress will have their heads explode because they will have to go to Dulles to catch getaway flights.

More likely it will become a shopping mall.