Tea at Trianon: What Happened in DC?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, February 3, 2025

What Happened in DC?

From Tierney's Real News:

This is the latest timeline I could find of the DC crash. The Blackhawk helicopter is called a PAT-25 and the American airlines plane is called a AA5342 CRJ (Canadian Regional Jet.)
PAT-25 is the designation for a Priority Air Transport flight operated by the Department of the Army. Priority Air Transport (PAT) is a United States Army (USAPAT) program that provides executive air transportation for senior military leaders and government officials.
On January 29, 2025, the PAT-25 Blackhawk helicopter flew into the American Airlines CRJ AA5342 aircraft over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport.
Here is the most accurate view of the collision:
https://x.com/PriscillaMirage/status/1885337679161942143
Here is a step-by-step timeline of the DC plane crash based on available information. I will add more detail as it comes available.
January 29, 2025:
6:18 p.m. EST: American Airlines Flight 5342 departs from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport (ITC) in Kansas, heading towards Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
8:15 PM: The aircraft left 37,000 feet for an initial descent.
8:39:10 PM: Potomac Approach cleared the airplane crew for the Mount Vernon visual runway one approach.
8:43:06 PM: The airplane crew made initial contact with the DCA tower. The tower controller asked if the crew could switch to runway 33.
8:45:27 PM: The autopilot was disconnected.
8:46 p.m. EST: Air traffic controllers instructed Flight 5342 to land on Runway 33, and the pilots acknowledged the instruction.
8:46:01 PM: A radio transmission from the tower was audible, informing PAT-25 (the Black Hawk) that traffic just south of the Wilson Bridge was a CRJ at 1,200 feet circling to runway 33.
8:46:29 PM: The airplane crew received a 1,000-foot automated callout.
8:46:47 PM: DCA Tower cleared other jet traffic on runway 1 for departure with no delay.
8:47 p.m. EST:
ATC: "PAT-25, do you have the CRJ in sight?"
This query from ATC was to confirm whether the helicopter pilot could see the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, known as American Airlines Flight 5342, which was on approach to land.
ATC: "PAT-25, pass behind the CRJ."
Here, the controller instructed the helicopter to maneuver to pass behind the jet, indicating an effort to manage the separation between the two aircraft.
Text from helicopter Pilot: "PAT-25 has aircraft in sight, request visual separation."
The helicopter pilot confirmed that they had visual contact with the CRJ700 and requested to maintain visual separation, implying they would manage their own distance and altitude based on seeing the jet. In other words, the text from helicopter said they had it all under control. Right. Earlier, the Blackhawk pilot was advised to return to base 3 times, but didn't.
One second later, the airplane crew received an automated traffic advisory stating "traffic traffic."
8:47:42 PM: A radio transmission from the tower was audible, directing PAT-25 to pass behind the CRJ. No response from PAT-25.
8:47:58 PM: The airplane crew had a verbal reaction, and FDR data showed the airplane beginning to increase its pitch.
8:47:59 PM: Sounds of impact were audible, followed by the end of the recording.
8:48 p.m. EST: The control tower sounds an alarm to alert responders to the crash. The last transmission from both the jet and the helicopter occurs around this time.
8:51 p.m. EST: Departures to DCA are grounded due to the aircraft emergency.
8:53 p.m. EST: Washington Metro police receive calls about the crash.
8:58 p.m. EST: First responders, including DC Fire and EMS, the Metropolitan Police Department, and multiple federal agencies, arrive at the scene to begin coordinating search and rescue efforts.
9:30 p.m. EST: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and law enforcement confirm the aircraft collision and crash.
10:19 p.m. EST: Emergency responders coordinate recovery efforts in the Potomac River.
The FBI announced that there was no indication of terrorism in the DC plane-helicopter collision near Reagan National Airport on January 29, 2025. This was reported by various news outlets and posts on X, with the earliest mention from the FBI's Washington Field Office to NBC News happening on the night of the crash.
10:30 p.m. EST: National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators arrive on the scene.
11:07 p.m. EST: American Airlines confirms 60 passengers and four crew members were on the aircraft, with three soldiers aboard the Army helicopter involved in the collision.
January 30 evening: NTSB investigators announce the recovery of the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the submerged jet, which were taken for analysis.
(Read more.)