Plane and Blackhawk helicopter crash in Washington DC

[Sylvia]

Never mind, already posted elsewhere

I appreciated your post in this thread last night @clairecloutier (IMO you didn't need to delete your link).
ESPN's article this morning (Dec. 18, 2025): https://www.espn.com/olympics/story...rnment-admits-role-plane-crash-killed-skaters
Excerpt:

The U.S. government admitted Wednesday that the actions of an air traffic controller and Army helicopter pilots played a role in causing the Jan. 29 collision between an airliner and a Black Hawk near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people, including a group of elite young figure skaters.
It was the deadliest plane crash on American soil in more than two decades. The figure skaters, their parents and coaches who had just attended the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, were among those on the plane.
The official response, made in court documents responding to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims' families, said the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated visual separation procedures that night. Plus, the filing said, the Army helicopter pilots' "failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid" the airline jet makes the government liable.
But the filing suggested that others, including the pilots of the jet and the airlines, might also have played a role. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for roles in the crash, but those airlines have filed motions to dismiss.

Copying over what @Barbara Manatee (thanks for the summary!) just posted in the GSD thread since it's relevant to this one:

The military admits responsibility for the crash, yet wants to keep flying dangerously [WaPo article link] -

In October, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) advanced legislation that would require all aircraft operating in congested airspace to have equipment that would broadcast their positions to other aircraft. The lawmakers had hoped it would be included as part of the Pentagon funding measure.
Instead, on Wednesday, the House passed the final version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which included allowing the military to resume flying in D.C. airspace — and in similarly congested airspace around the country — without using the transmitters when carrying out national security mission or training flights. The annual finding bill is expected to be taken up by the Senate next week.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), who represents many of the families who lost loved ones in the crash, said in a statement that a provision he supported to require stricter location broadcasting from aircraft was ultimately watered down “to accommodate [Defense Department] concerns.”

The Senate has just passed a bill to require the military to turn transponders on, but it won't go to the House until next next year. In the meantime, there was a near mid-air collision between an Air Force tanker and a Jet Blue airliner near Curacao a few days ago. The tanker was flying with transponders off.

ETA @floridaice's reply/video that was originally posted in the GSD thread:

And the NTSB is not happy about this. Props to Jennifer Homendy