(QUEEN CITY NEWS) — For those who may not be familiar with the air traffic in Washington, D.C., and how it relates to Wednesday evening’s deadly crash involving a military helicopter and a commercial aircraft, many will note that a large part of that air traffic is along the Potomac River.
Reagan National Airport is located along the Potomac, with planes often seemingly over the water just until the aircraft land on the nearby runways.
In an interview with Queen City News Now Thursday morning, retired Marine Col. Mark Cancian noted many maneuvers and flight paths happen along the river for a variety of reasons, which largely have to do with noise.
“A lot of those flights are channeled over the river, and they do that to keep the noise down in the suburbs and keep it away from sensitive downtown locations,” said Cancian.
Cancian noted military aircraft in that area often have to train for various missions, which can range from homeland security and national security, to VIP escorting.
Defense officials noted the crew of the Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday evening’s crash was performing annual proficiency training a the time of the incident.
