However, it’s important to note that there were more serious issues involved in this collision than military rank disputes or gender debates.
In the first tweet, it’s noted that the helicopter was supposed to descend from the 300 feet it was reported to be flying to 200 feet as it approached the bridge. However, it should be noted that even at 300 feet, it still should not have collided with the descending aircraft (the resulting vertical separation of only 100 feet would have been neither safety-acceptable nor permissible even if it had fully descended to 200 feet).
Moreover, near the end of the tweet’s NYT quotation, it’s noted that some controllers have said that more could have been done by the tower controller handling both the helicopter and the airliner. In particular, their top priority should have been to at least warn both pilots that they were on a collision course, which apparently was not done.
