Less Dumb Investing

DCA, or Reagan Airport, has been the subject of scrutiny for years for relying on luck to avoid accidents. It is in close proximity to the nation’s capital, where a mixture of commercial, diplomatic, and military flights all use the same airspace. I was still awake when I received the notification last night that American Eagle 5342 had collided with a PAT transport Blackhawk helicopter. There are 67 total fatalities.

First, as an aviation buff, here’s what happened. PAT25, the UH-60 helicopter, was cleared for visual separation from AA5342 and told to pass behind it. The helicopter should not have gone above altitude 300. I haven’t heard the ATC for the helicopter’s frequency, but my understanding is that the pilot of the rotorcraft heard the transmission and acknowledged the clearance. Moments later, the aircraft collided at an altitude of roughly 300 feet. AA5342 was on final approach to Runway 33.

So how does a military chopper end up in the middle of an ILS landing path? This is where the speculation begins.

The chopper was a training aircraft operated by the Army, from my understanding of the events. The aircraft, a CRJ, was originally slated to land on Runway 01 but was vectored to Runway 33 for its approach. There’s a very strong chance that the chopper had a visual on the wrong aircraft. The pilots had experience and were using night vision goggles. However, something went wrong, leading to the collision and the aircraft ending up floating in the Potomac River.

This event is significant not only for its loss of life, but also that it highlights the issues in managing complex airspace within DCA. Tt was not American Airline’s fault. Which takes us to the stock reaction.

AAL’s stock is down 2-3% today, and I would anticipate further downside tomorrow as well. However, this event is not American’s fault. Like most events, the public will forget that this crash happened.

I’m not saying to buy the stock just because it’s down 3%. Airlines have had a record run, which I anticipated months ago with UAL. But I am saying to make sure that short-term events don’t drive your investing strategy too strongly.