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

Federal detectives have actually raised concerns of a capacity for another lethal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe which took place on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter clashed in midair over the Potomac River, killing everybody on board both aircrafts.

As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, private investigators raised issues of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We stay concerned about the substantial capacity for future mid-air crash at DCA.’

Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy relocating to limit helicopter traffic around the location, however that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When police, medical or governmental transportation helicopters should use the area civilian planes are stopped from being in the same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘long-term option’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency systems respond after a passenger airplane collided 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 talks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was alerting check in the lead up to the lethal catastrophe.

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

It was discovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of aircrafts getting alerts about helicopters being 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 data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have utilized that info whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re taking action today. But sadly, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I think the concern is when this information comes in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to state « hey, this is a hot area, we are having near misses and if we don’t alter our ways we are gon na lose lives ».’

He added: ‘That wasn’t done, maybe there was a concentrate on something other than safety.’

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a press 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 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

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Investigators think that the helicopter associated with the crash might have had unreliable altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The crash likely occurred at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the plane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that place.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, stating: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent security recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive investigation.

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

The helicopter pilots might have also missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a different 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 crew was using night vision goggles throughout the flight.

The Army has stated the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the nation ´ s capital.

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was all at once keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those jobs are typically managed between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are generally handled in between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage taken from inside the airport captured the moment the 2 collided in midair

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping an eye on both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are typically integrated and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A supervisor reportedly 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 several years, with just 19 totally accredited controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually enhanced since then, as a source told 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 nothing brand-new, with widely known causes consisting of high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are regularly asked to work 10-hour days, 6 days a week.

After the release of the report, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as ‘uncommon’.

She said: ‘This NTSB action is highly uncommon. The release of an emergency situation suggestion asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

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

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

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes until they tentatively began leaving.

The aircraft had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and 4 crew members on board.

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

And the aircraft carnage is continuous – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic video showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the airplane and neighboring vehicles.

The airplane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, however rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had opened.

American Airlines