NORFOLK, Va. — As the investigation continues into Wednesday's deadly plane crash in Washington, D.C., News 3 is gaining perspective from a Hampton Roads professor Timothy Johnson and Virginia U.S. rep. Jen Kiggans.
Both have years of aviation experience.
“Our aviation department, we have three different programs," Johnson said.
Watch: Hampton Roads psychologist shares ways to cope with flight anxiety after plane crash
Johnson is a professor at Hampton University and served in the Air Force as an air traffic controller for 20 years.
He said navigating aircraft around each other at night is challenging because depth perception differs from daytime conditions.
He also noted that there is training to address this, and incidents like what happened Wednesday night can serve as training tools.
Watch: Control tower staffing 'not normal' when airliner, Army helicopter collided midair
“It’s a very good teaching moment. If we don’t take time to talk about these incidents, then we’re setting ourselves up for failure. We have to learn from these incidents,” Johnson said.
Virginia Congresswoman Jen Kiggans is a former military helicopter pilot.
She said she understands what it feels like to be around a busy airport at night, describing it as a dynamic, ever-changing environment.
Watch: What happened in fatal plane, helicopter crash near Reagan Airport?
As the investigation moves forward, one area she will focus on is technology.
“As a person who sits on the Armed Services Committee and does a lot of talking about making sure we’re getting the best, brightest, and latest technology to the warfighter, I want to make sure we’re using that,” Kiggans explained. “Especially in dynamic environments like that. This isn’t a wartime setting; this is a civilian airport, but a very busy one. So, making sure that our military is equipped with the latest and greatest technology is essential.”
News 3 also asked Kiggans about her message for people concerned that a similar tragedy could occur in Hampton Roads, given the large number of military aircraft flying in the area.
Watch: Ret. Vice Admiral offers perspective after Navy jet mistakenly shot down
“I think this was a wake-up call for aviation. Thankfully, we do aviation very safely in this country, and we do aviation very safely in the military," Kiggans said.
Both Johnson and Kiggans also expressed their condolences for everyone involved in this tragic incident.
