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

Federal investigators have actually raised issues of a capacity for another fatal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year eliminated 67.

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

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

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‘We remain worried about the substantial potential for future mid-air crash at DCA.’

Her concerns focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy relocating to restrict helicopter traffic around the location, but that is set to cease at the end of the month.

When cops, medical or governmental transportation helicopters need to utilize the area civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the very same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA discover a ‘long-term service’ for alternate routes for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways remain in use.

Emergency units react after a traveler 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 speaks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was warning check in the lead up to the fatal disaster.

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

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

The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where 2 aircraft where laterally split 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 utilized that information at any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I think the question is when this information comes in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to state “hello, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we do not alter our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

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

Duffy would later 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 being in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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

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

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

‘We will continue to collaborate carefully with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed out on part of another communication, when the tower said the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy said last month.

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

Investigators believe the crew was using night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those jobs are usually managed between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

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

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport recorded the minute the 2 collided in midair

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

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

A supervisor apparently decided to integrate those tasks before the set up cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report stated that staffing setup ‘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 accredited controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have 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 towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and budget plan cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are regularly asked to work 10-hour days, six 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 extremely unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is .’

The 2 aircraft had collided in a substantial 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 guest plane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes until they tentatively started leaving.

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

Some 21 people were taken to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually provided everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in settlement.

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

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to medical facility.

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