Oakland County Sheriff Bouchard reflects on D.C. tragedy during flight home
Local perspective
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard was in the air—flying from D.C. to Detroit as the deadly collision happened at Reagan National Airport.
Bouchard said his time in D.C. this week was memorable as he was named 'Sheriff of the Year' by the Major County Sheriffs of America. When the meetings wrapped on Wednesday, Bouchard headed to Reagan National Airport to catch a flight to Detroit.
"Actually, kind of in a bizarre, chilling way, I was headed to the airport and I looked at the Potomac River and I thought 'oh it's got an icecap over it.' It's probably unusual here because they're a little more temperate than Michigan," he said.
As he was on his plane heading, American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military Blackhawk helicopter collided over the Potomac. Bouchard says his loved ones and colleagues were texting him when it happened. But he had no idea what happened until he landed back in Metro Detroit.
"I think there were a lot of people that were relieved to receive a response back. You know I imagine if you had a friend or a loved one on that plane that did go down and you'd send them a text it would be radio silent," he said. "That's not a great feeling."
He says the crash is hard to wrap his mind around as they've got two helicopters at the sheriff's office and wonder how the tragedy occurred with all the safety technology.
"Even when you're coming into different sections or landing it senses or knows certain things are in the area, and you'll hear it audibly bark. I think the words it uses is traffic, traffic, traffic," he said.
Bouchard says he expects the National Transportation Safety Board and other investigators to examine the black boxes and determine what happened.
"Why that helicopter and that plane were both in the same spot at the same time which is obviously rule 101 for air traffic safety, is not to have that happen," he said.
What we know
Hundreds of responders have removed at least 28 bodies from the icy waters of the Potomac River.
According to the Associated Press, the crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the White House and the Capitol.
The Blackhawk helicopter involved in the crash was reportedly based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, according to a defense official speaking on condition of anonymity.
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