One may get an idea of the flight path planes travel as they approach Runway 33 at DCA from video captured by seasoned pilot Chuck Smith.
On their last approach, just before landing, the Jets turn left to cross the Potomac River after flying up it, over the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, and over land.
airplane Aware indicates that the airplane was at a height of 375 feet with a latitude and longitude just off the eastern side of the river according to the most recent data from.
Its Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, precise tracking program. Air traffic control tower manning at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was “not normal”
For the volume of air activity and for the time of day, according to an FAA preliminary assessment on the incident, an insider told NBC News.
Usually, a controller in the tower is dedicated to helicopter traffic. However, the source said that one controller at DCA was in charge of both helicopter and aircraft operations.
