Why Are So Many Helicopters Flying Around a Busy Airport in the Middle of Washington DC?
The answer is Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling
It’s amazing how uncurious the mainstream media has been about this question. I suppose they have been advised to keep this angle on the recent aviation disaster out of their stories. They just go with “It’s a busy area with lots of commercial and military aircraft” and leave it at that. “National security” is probably invoked.
But the answer to the question is very simple. Directly across the Potomac River from Reagan International Airport is Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.
Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (JBAB) is a 905-acre military installation, located in Southwest Washington, DC, established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The legislation ordered the consolidation of Naval Support Facility Anacostia and Bolling Air Force Base, which were adjoining but separate military installations into a single joint base, one of twelve formed in the country as a result of the law. The base hosts the Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters amongst its other responsibilities. The only aeronautical facility at the base is a 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m) helipad.
All of the information on the map above is taken straight from Google Maps on satellite view. You can look around for yourself, zooming way down to examine each component command and service facility, from the headquarters of the Defense Intelligence Agency to the base barber shop. Please don’t be concerned about my disclosing any secrets, anybody on the planet with an internet connection can see the same thing. I merely labeled a screen shot with the names of the various commands.
I’m only guessing, but I’d bet there are more generals and admirals per square mile on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) than anywhere other than the Pentagon, which is located a short helicopter hop two miles to the northwest. CIA headquarters is twelve miles up the Potomac “as the crow flies,” but anybody who is familiar with driving inside the DC Beltway knows that while a helicopter ride might take ten minutes, the same drive by automobile can take over an hour, depending on traffic conditions.
So for the convenience of all of the high-ranking generals, admirals and members of the Senior Executive Service assigned to JBAB, the Army established units like the 12th Aviation Battalion. The 12th AvBatt is based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, which is about 15 miles to the southwest. So as you can imagine, the air corridor along the Potomac between CIA HQ, the Pentagon, the White House, JBAB and Fort Belvoir is virtually a “helicopter highway.”
Not to be outdone in glamour and prestige by the president’s “white top” helicopters, the Army came up with “gold top” luxury Black Hawks to shuttle their VIP brass—as well as civilian SES bigshots—between their many Washington-area HQs and commands. Their precious time is simply far too valuable to be wasted sitting stuck in traffic among the restless peasants! They have Very Important Business to attend! So only the very best will do for our senior brass. PAT-25 was the call sign of the deadly Black Hawk which destroyed itself and the airliner. PAT stands for Priority Air Transport, which is military-speak for VIP helo transportation.
And this, dear readers, is why military helicopters are routinely flying directly under the busy airliner flight path descending into Reagan National Airport. To me, this is just as insane as having a “safe pedestrian corridor” across an active rifle range. “Just crawl on your hands and knees, and don’t stick your head up, and you’ll be fine.”
Madness. It appears that PAT-25 flew slightly outside of its assigned corridor and popped up to 350 feet from its maximum allowed 200, and an aviation catastrophe ensued, resulting in the loss of 67 lives. How long does it take a Black Hawk that is cruising along at between 100 and 170 knots to rise a mere 150 feet in altitude? Seconds. And four seconds after impact, the fiery wreckage of American Eagle Flight 5342 impacted the icy Potomac, killing all 64 aboard. Video of below screen capture at this link.
Our elite military and federal brass, the generals, admirals and the SES, want the best of all worlds. They want to live and work in a prime Washington location, near all their HQs and commands. But they don’t want to sit stuck in automobile traffic with the peons. So they were willing to carve out an exceptional helicopter corridor directly under a busy airport’s approach path, with helicopters and airliners often passing danger close.
This is just as insane as my hypothetical active rifle range with a “safe pedestrian corridor” between the firing line and the targets. A disaster was bound to happen between JBAB and Reagan International, and finally, it did.
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How many of these top brass do we really need? I wasn't in the military but it seems reasonable that half or more could go, and that would alleviate the need for all those choppers.
Excellent work again Matt! As a DC native and having spent many years as a "tech" around DC I was witness to many airfields. For example, on the radar image video of the event, you can see the radar image (probably the one captured from the TraCon in Warrenton, VA) of the DC corridor, there a number of airfields and one I didn't know existed but expected would be there. (CIA Langley/McLean) I remember doing a call at the Coast Guard HQ, next to Ft. MacNair, eating my lunch in my car and watching Marine One do touch and goes over at Bolling. I've worked on equipment inside the WH Com Office/SS machine shop on Bolling. There is also JB Andrews up the hill on the MD side and another one at MCBQ, though that's a lot of Helo traffic and VTs.
At one point in my early life, I was working for a group known as GSI (Guest Services, Inc.) to help fund my college courses. I worked primarily at Thompson's Boat House and what used to be called the Washington Sailing Marina at the South end of the Runway at what back then was called Washington National. There days when we would see several H1s come down the Potomac River over the Key bridge from Carderock, MD (David Taylor) in what looked like a scene out of Full Metal Jacket. I agree with you in the thought that it has been an accident waiting to happen.
You also can't forget that the DC Harbor Patrol has their own air unit as well. It used to be a Bell Ranger but I have not idea what they use now.
Here is the personal part of all of this reminiscing. Back in 1999 into 2000 or so, I was working for a large IT support company. Perhaps the largest in the US. Some clients had PC and Laptops I would fix on site and some were sites where I just had to hand them a piece of equipment and they would hand me their trade in. One of the sites was the US Army at Davidson Airfield in Ft. Belvoir. I had to trade a laptop with them. Easy call. The easiest kind. I had to go to a hanger and the office was in the back of the hanger. (That was back when O'bummer had stripped off all the security from the gates too) As I walked in, I could see three Blackhawks. One of them dressed up like a Marine One. Had the same color scheme. As I walked back to the office to find the Seargent, I could hear that they had Rush Limbaugh on the radio and quite loudly. I found the Seargent and I joked with him that I couldn't believe they were allowed to listen to Rush. He said "oh no! We love to listen to Rush. Every time he says there are no "Black Helicopters" we just laugh our asses off." That's because the other two birds were solid flat black.
The Seargent showed me the inside of the WH Colored Blackhawk and I sat down in it. He closed the door and wanted to show me how proud they were of retrofitting an F150 interior door panel to the inside of the compartment door. It seemed that Secretary Madeliene Albright, did not like the appearance of the mechanicals of the inside of the hatch and requested the staff to find a solution to it as she didn't want her "guests" to look at it. I was impressed at how lucky they were to make it fit so well. They said it took almost no modifications.
To close out my two cents worth, we live in between MCBQ and the little town of Warrenton, VA where they also have an Army Base and an underground Data Center run by the Army. We used to see a lot of USMC choppers in the air during exercises but after Homeland became more than just a clearing house of information ( I use the word Intelligence sparingly where it applies) the Gold striped choppers fly often over us going from the Potomac to places west. We also have Manassas Airport nearby and those up in Loudoun County (where they let boys use the girl's bathrooms in schools) they have a busy small airport as well. In fact, the FAA last year, approved and expansion of the traffic out of Manassas. The Flights going to Dulles Airport, fly right up VA route 28. We get to see it all. Someday we'll move out from under all the jet fuel that drops down on us. I'm listening to see if planes or choppers are having engine trouble. You never know.
Yours in liberty,
Vince