Why Did the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Fail?
Defense Secretary Hegseth should ask about the Blackhawk's transponder and if the Blackhawk was equipped with TCAS.
A major question that has arisen is why the AA aircraft’s TCAS apparently didn’t detect the Blackhawk’s transponder. The AA aircraft was certainly equipped with TCAS, which interrogates the transponders of nearby aircraft.
It appears that the AA flight was executing a left turn to line up for the runway. In this position, visibility to the right would have been limited. The final approach to Reagan also requires a lot of concentration. The pilots were apparently completely unaware of the presence of the Blackhawk.
Another, related question is if the Blackhawk was equipped with TCAS. A retired Naval aviator friend just texted:
I have a friend that flew H60s [Navy iteration of the Blackhawk] who said TCAS had been on their "unfunded requests" list for years.
I hope that Defense Secretary Hegseth will ask about the Blackhawk’s transponder and if the Blackhawk was equipped with TCAS. I suspect that the answer to the latter question is no, it was not.
I suspect that the disaster is a perfect example of why Blackhawks—at least Blackhawks operating around DC—SHOULD be equipped with TCAS.
It didn't fail. TCAS RA's are disabled below '1000. You can contact me if you want more info.
All this talk about TCAS and ADS-B are red herrings. The helo pilot is **ON THE ATC FEED** claiming he has the Bombardier in sight and requesting visual separation. Why he then, after that, collided with an aircraft on short final -- which unambiguously has right of way -- is the *one* question NTSB needs to get to the bottom of.