Crash Warning as Report into DC Disaster at Reagan Airport Is Released
Federal detectives have actually raised issues of a potential for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash previously this year eliminated 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board gave an upgrade on their examination into the reason for the disaster which happened 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 airplanes.
As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, detectives raised issues of more collisions including helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We remain worried about the significant capacity for future mid-air crash 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 presidential transportation helicopters must use the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the very same area.
Homendy said the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA discover a ‘long-term option’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in use.
Emergency systems react after a passenger 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 talks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision
It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check in the lead up to the lethal catastrophe.
Those probing the crash went through 944,179 operations in between October 2021 and December 2024.
It was revealed that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of aircrafts getting informs about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB also said that there were 85 cases where 2 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 whenever to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.’
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.
Duffy stated: ‘I believe the question is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to say “hey, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’
He included: ‘That wasn’t done, possibly there was a focus on something aside from safety.’
Duffy would later added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses out on that the data 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 involved in the crash might have had unreliable elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.
The accident likely took place at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.
On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s immediate safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.
‘We will continue to collaborate carefully with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative party member.’
The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards a various runway, Homendy said last month.
The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing a yearly test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy said.
Investigators think the team was wearing 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 nation ´ s capital.
At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping track of both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.
Those tasks are typically managed in between 2 people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.
Those jobs are typically handled in between 2 people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.
Surveillance video drawn from inside the airport captured the minute the two collided in midair
At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30 pm the tasks are normally combined and left to someone as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.
A manager reportedly chose to combine those tasks before the scheduled cutoff time however, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.
The FAA report said that staffing setup ‘was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’.
Reagan National has actually been understaffed for numerous years, with simply 19 fully licensed controllers as of September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.
The circumstance appeared to have actually improved given that 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 absolutely nothing brand-new, with popular causes including high turnover and spending plan cuts.
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In order to fill the gaps, are often asked to work 10-hour days, 6 days a week.
After the release of the report, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as ‘unusual’.
She said: ‘This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency situation suggestion asking for the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is uncommon.’
The two airplane had clashed in a huge fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.
Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta traveler airplane crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everyone on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.
The plane had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and 4 team members on board.
Some 21 individuals were required to the healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.
And the plane carnage is continuous – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement community.
Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to healthcare facility.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the plane and nearby cars.
The aircraft took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, however quickly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.
American Airlines
