Once again, the failing New York Times is running interference and burying the real story to protect their preferred narrative.
An article headlined “Missteps, Equipment Problems and a Common but Risky Practice Led to a Fatal Crash,” which is about January’s devastating crash at Reagan National Airport, is a textbook example of mainstream media malpractice.
An honest headline would have read, “Helicopter Pilot Ignored Multiple Safety Warnings Before Fatal Crash.”
The liberal paper of record spent roughly a thousand words dancing around the obvious truth: a helicopter pilot directly caused this tragedy by ignoring multiple explicit warnings.
But that wouldn’t fit their preferred story about “systemic failures,” would it?
Let me spell out what the Times buried deep in their article: The Black Hawk pilot received clear, explicit warnings about altitude from their co-pilot.
The co-pilot explicitly instructed them to turn away from the passenger jet. And what did they do? They ignored those warnings and flew straight into the path of an American Airlines flight carrying 64 innocent people.
The Black Hawk was 15 seconds away from crossing paths with the jet. Warrant Officer Eaves then turned his attention to Captain Lobach.
He told her he believed that air traffic control wanted them to turn left, toward the east river bank.
Turning left would have opened up more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342, which was heading for Runway 33 at an altitude of roughly 300 feet.
She did not turn left.