Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - For 10 years, local pilot Joe DeMarco has been flying patients and families to hospitals across the Northeast, free of charge, for critical medical care.
He and his team at Wings Flights of Hope, based in Orchard Park, are on call 24/7 to shuttle patients to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Boston and New York City, among other places.
DeMarco's first thoughts upon hearing of the midair collision near Washington, D.C. on Wednesday: "One thing for sure: Two aircraft shouldn't be at the same altitude. There should have been audibles."
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While it's too early to place blame, DeMarco told WBEN on Friday that he thinks there was, at least one, failure. Namely, the air traffic controller was overwhelmed.
"I fly through New York City air space on a regular basis, which I think is the second-busiest in the world. Typically, when planes are going to be near each other, you'll get audibles: 'Turn left, turn right.' I'm only speculating, but I think the Black Hawk helicopter was too high. The pilot acknowledged traffic, but it appears he was looking at the wrong plane."
DeMarco says it's so hard to understand how this happened when you think of all the flights that go off safely everyday. He called the system 99.99% reliable.
"As a pilot you have to trust other pilots sharing your air space, and you're putting a lot of faith in air traffic controllers," he explained. "Your life and the life of your passengers are pretty much in the hands of the controllers. They have a difficult job."
He flies frequently into Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. He called it "crazy busy." It's near both Newark Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.
"You have planes above you, below you and alongside of you. Normally you check in when you get handed off to a controller. But sometimes, you have to wait and listen as they rattle off directions, headings and altitudes," DeMarco described. "They're fantastic at it, but I think sometimes human error can come into play."
One aspect of the investigation is whether enough air traffic controllers were at work at the time of the air disaster. A preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration showed staffing at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night was "not normal." Two people were doing the job of four in the tower at the time of the crash.
"It's very disturbing to hear that," DeMarco added. "I think that's going to be a big factor in this. But the bottom line is there should never be two planes near each other."
