Passenger flight from Wichita collides with military helicopter in D.C.

[rfaulk34]

Originally Posted by Megatron96

Yeah, once you declare "traffic in sight, request(ing) visual sep" the responsibility to maintain separation is on that (helo) crew.

My question is, even though they know (or should know) how and where they're supposed to fly, why doesn't ATC (or why isn't it already a rule) tell them to hold their position until the plane passes?

I get that we're all adults and 'i shouldn't have to hold your hand all the time' is part of it, but why not remove any possibility of human error in that kind of instance?