Crash Warning as Report into DC Disaster at Reagan Airport Is Released

Federal investigators have raised concerns of a capacity for another fatal airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe which occurred on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both aircrafts.

As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more collisions including helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‚We stay worried about the significant capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.‘

Her concerns revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy moving to limit helicopter traffic around the area, however that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or governmental transportation helicopters should use the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA find a ‚permanent service‘ for alternate routes for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in use.

Emergency systems react after a traveler airplane clashed with a helicopter in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia

Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) Jennifer Homendy speaks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check in the lead up to the deadly catastrophe.

Those probing the crash went through 944,179 operations in between October 2021 and December 2024.

It was uncovered that 15,214 ’near-miss occasions‘ of airplanes getting alerts about helicopters remaining in close distance in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where two airplane where laterally divided by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy included: ‚That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that details at any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that path; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.‘

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed these findings at a later press conference on Tuesday.

Duffy stated: ‚I think the question is when this data is available in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say „hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses and if we don’t change our methods we are gon na lose lives“.‘

He added: ‚That wasn’t done, possibly there was a concentrate on something aside from security.‘

Duffy would later on included when questioned by a reporter about the near misses out on that the information had ‚p *** ed him off‘.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had inaccurate altitude in the minutes before the crash.

The crash most likely happened at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the airplane descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, stating: ‚We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent safety suggestions to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.

‚We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it works together as an investigative celebration member.‘

The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another interaction, when the tower said the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy stated last month.

The helicopter was on a ‚check‘ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators think the team was using night vision goggles throughout the flight.

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the country ´ s capital.

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was at the same time monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those jobs are normally handled between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are typically handled in between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport recorded the moment the two collided in midair

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the duties are normally combined and delegated someone as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager supposedly chose to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report said that staffing configuration ‚was not typical for the time of day and volume of traffic‘.

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for lots of years, with just 19 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually enhanced because then, as a source informed CNN the Reagan National control tower was 85 percent staffed with 24 of 28 positions filled.

Chronic understaffing at air traffic control service towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are often asked to work 10-hour days, six days a week.

After the release of the report, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‚uncommon‘.

She stated: ‚This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is unusual.‘

The 2 aircraft had clashed in a big fireball that showed up on dashcams of cars and trucks driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta traveler aircraft crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for numerous minutes up until they tentatively began evacuating.

The aircraft had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 travelers and four crew members on board.

Some 21 people were required to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually provided each person a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.

And the airplane carnage is continuous – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a car park of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement community.

Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation automobiles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and nearby automobiles.

The airplane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.

American Airlines