Washington Midair NTSB Prelim Report / USDOT and FAA Boeing Safety Push / Heli Crash Kills 3

NTSB releases preliminary report on Washington midair collision

The NTSB released its preliminary report on the Jan 29th 2025 midair collision near Washington National Airport, detailing that PSA Airlines Flight 5342, a CRJ-700 from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter while transitioning from Helicopter Route 1 to Route 4 at approximately 278 feet over the Potomac River. The report highlights communication gaps, altitude discrepancies, and the helicopter crew’s likely use of night vision goggles, with urgent safety recommendations issued to improve ATC procedures, visual separation protocols, and altitude monitoring in mixed fixed-wing and rotary-wing airspace environments. Click image above for reading the related post!

USDOT and FAA leaders to visit Boeing Renton factory amid safety push

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau will visit Boeing's Renton, Washington, factory on March 13, 2025, to evaluate safety measures and production standards as part of a renewed oversight initiative. The visit coincides with the six-year anniversary of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, which involved a Boeing 737 MAX and resulted in 157 fatalities, prompting global scrutiny of Boeing's safety culture. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is scheduled to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 2, 2025, regarding safety improvements and quality management reforms. Click image above for reading the related details!

Medical helicopter crash in Mississippi kills pilot and two crew members

A Eurocopter EC135 P2+ operated by Med-Trans Corporation for the University of Mississippi Medical Center crashed in a wooded area near the Natchez Trace Parkway and Highway 43 in Madison County, Mississippi, on March 10, 2025, killing all three crew members — pilot Cal Wesolowski, 62, critical care paramedic Jakob Kindt, 37, and base supervisor Dustin Pope, 35. The helicopter, designated AirCare 3, was returning to its base in Columbus after delivering a patient when it experienced a rapid, uncontrolled descent, with data showing a sudden drop from 116 knots to 103 knots groundspeed and a descent rate reaching 5300 feet per minute. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation, and preliminary information from the NTSB indicates the crew reported a flight control problem and attempted to find a landing site before losing communication. Click image above for reading the related post!

Airplane Crash & Incident Reviews: Structural Vulnerabilities and Certification Gaps: Bristow Helicopters Flight 56C

Read our today's review of just another tragic accident that moved the world when it happened and far beyond. Click image above for reading the full article!

SARPcheck global aviation safety audit: A wet lease, codeshare, ACMI Booster

SARPcheck is a new global aviation safety audit that assesses airline compliance with select ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) across defined ICAO Annexes. The primary aim of this audit is to enhance global flight safety while providing an affordable and accessible tool to facilitate ACMI, wet lease, and codeshare operations. The ICAO Annexes and SARPs that SARPcheck focuses on are specifically those outlined by regulatory and industry standards, including FAA requirements for overseeing foreign air carriers and the TCO approval elements of EASA.

SARPcheck is governed by a London-based not-for-profit organization, the Safety Audit Review Partnership (SARP Ltd.), which accredits Safety Quality Organizations (SQOs) such as AEROTHRIVE to conduct these audits globally. Detailed information about the program, including the SARPcheck Program Manual (SCPM), informative brochures, and the latest updates, is available on our website at https://aerothrive.com/audits/sarpcheck-audits/. For further inquiries or personal assistance, please feel free to send me a message. I'm always happy to help! Lufthansa City Airlines is the global launch customer of SARPcheck.

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