Colorado Springs air traffic control expert weighs in on deadly air collision
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A Colorado Springs aviation expert is weighing in on the deadly plane versus Blackhawk helicopter collision Wednesday night, killing 67 people in Washington D.C.
As recovery operations continue, the National Transportation Safety Board is beginning an investigation that could take years.
"I saw the video [only] once, and that was enough for me to see it. It's pretty horrific from a controller point of view," Alan Gorski, a retired air traffic controller and pilot.
Gorski worked at the Colorado Springs Airport for more than 17 years before retiring. He says many of his friends have left the industry because they felt things were beginning to be unsafe, noting that the training program when he started decades ago was rigorous and highly selective.
"The environment is not like it was," Gorski said. "There's so much bureaucracy in that organization... that it's difficult. It's a very hard job to do."
Gorski also noted several similarities between the Colorado Springs Airport and Ronald Reagan National Airport. Both have a close proximity to military installations with helicopter traffic. In addition, air traffic control towers are responsible for managing both commercial and military air traffic.
He worries that the collision Wednesday is an indicator of a larger problem with safety systemwide.
"There are many cases of near misses in our system. It's part of flying, unfortunately," Gorski said. "It needs to be resolved and it continues to still happen even with the technology we have today."
ABC News reported Thursday that one person was working two jobs in the air traffic control tower at Reagan on Wednesday evening. Gorski noted that a reduced staffing level was common, but only during times of low traffic.
Because many of the elements of the helicopter and jet landed in the water, the NTSB noted during a news conference Thursday that it might take longer to finish the investigation, but they are confident they will be able to retrieve the data necessary to pinpoint the cause.
Meanwhile, Gorski says he has seen investigations like this take years to complete, simply because of the complexity of the job.
"They're going to get into training, they're going to get into controller backgrounds, they're going to get into the pilot's backgrounds, they're going to get into all of this stuff. And once they start opening doors, it can get very ugly," Gorski said.