After DC midair collision, get an inside look at Black Hawk pilot training

By Meredith Jorgensen

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    FORT INDIANTOWN GAP (WGAL) — News 8 got an inside look at the training Black Hawk helicopter pilots go through at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County.

Weighing in at more than 14,000 pounds and nearly 65 feet long, this type of aircraft made famous by a Hollywood movie is a military workhorse that can carry up to 11 people or transport cargo quickly and efficiently.

But the training for U.S. military helicopter pilots is getting heightened attention following a midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet near Reagan National Airport last week.

“I can only assure the public that we are doing everything necessary to make sure we maintain all our flight safety,” Col. Tim Zerbe said.

He leads the team of Pennsylvania National Guard members who keep these choppers flying.

He showed News 8 the cockpit instruments every pilot masters and described the hours of flight training during the day and at night.

“We’ll add night vision goggles, which is considered our most challenging mode of flight because you’re looking through two tubes at roughly a 40-degree field of view in a monochromatic scale,” he said.

While Zerbe said all pilots train in high-traffic airspace like Washington, D.C., he admits the nation’s capital is complex and busy with military and commercial flights.

“I am sympathetic that people are upset right now and angry, and the only thing we can do is assure them that we’re doing the best we can and that we’re operating as safely as we can. After a tragic accident like this, I would argue all of us are more heightened to be more prepared to make sure this never happens locally or ever again,” he said.

Zerbe’s biggest takeaway from this accident is the resilience of the military and aviation communities to learn from this tragedy and to get back in the sky.

While the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation, the Army is also conducting its own internal review.

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