WESTFORD, Vt. (WCAX) – As recovery efforts continue in the Potomac River after a midair collision that killed 67 people, a retired pilot from Westford is recalling his near-misses at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Lenny Couture flew regional jets for American Eagle into that airport hundreds of times. He says pilots had to be alert and aware that anything could happen in the most restricted and most congested airspace in the country.
Reporter Joe Carroll: Did you have any close calls yourself?
Lenny Couture: Oh yeah, yup. Helicopters right off your wings and underneath you and other planes, you got traffic at 1 o’clock. Yeah!
Couture says the American pilots were doing a normal approach and probably never saw the crash coming.
