My guess is that it is correct.
In defense of the ATC, there seems to be nothing unusual about the presence of the Blackhawk and how the ATC handled the Blackhawk. Rather, the following seems to be the norm:
- Military helicopters routinely fly that route- even though the airspace is congested and even at night. ATC and commercial pilots may not like it, but the military can set their own agenda.
- When handling military traffic, ATC advises the helicopter crews of civilian traffic, then allows the helicopter in under procedures "A" and "B".
In short, though everybody can always do something better with 20/20 hindsight, my guess is that the actions of the ATC were with in the safety norm (well, the safety norms before the disaster).
Well, “set own agenda” may not work, and here is a “civil” example from own life that’s far from military. It is a different situation, but the same.
Police and EMT ambulance have a siren they can use on our common roads if there is an emergency (an accident, a sick person or maybe chasing a criminal.) They have this system, and if I hear an ambulance (or even a police) siren, I try to immediately give them way, and so does everyone else. It is a burden on the traffic, but may be necessary, if used only when needed.
We sort of assume that a different entity, in a different form and conditions, can use our regular traffic roads for a different reason, and it is necessary.
But if every police car, every EMT ambulance start using this siren and high-speed driving, especially during high-traffic hours, without a reason, just because they can, it will create havoc on the roads and end up with an accident.
Same here: a civil airport allows to use military transport because it is DC and who knows what emergencies can happen? In some cases, it might be helpful.
But if military helicopters overuse the already-strained system, a disaster is going to happen.
I think it is that example. A training accident involving just the Blackhawk, say, above the Potomac, would have been bad for the military, but once the helicopter uses the fact that it is allowed to use the civil airport, and flies over it, it overburdens already heavily used system, and creates a catastrophe.
It doesn’t matter who the pilots of the helicopter were. I posted from the very beginning that obviously, they didn’t plan to hit a plane full of “kids and moms”, sorry, and end up dead themselves in a cold river, upside down. The chance of an accident is high in a congested airport. It gets higher if you introduce other factors.
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