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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their examination into the cause of the disaster which occurred on January 29 in Washington.

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

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

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

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

When cops, medical or presidential transportation helicopters need to use the area civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the exact same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘long-term service’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in use.

Emergency systems respond after a guest 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 with reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was warning indications in the lead up to the fatal catastrophe.

Those probing 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 signals about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise 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) might have used that details at any time to identify that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I believe the question is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to say “hey, this is a hot area, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides safety.’

Duffy would later included when questioned by a press reporter about the near misses 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 may have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision most likely took place at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit 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 suggestions 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 celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed out on part of another interaction, when the tower stated 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 a yearly test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

Investigators believe the crew was using night vision safety glasses 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 collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently monitoring both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those tasks are usually dealt with between two individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those tasks are typically dealt with in between 2 people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport caught the moment the 2 collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the duties are usually combined and delegated one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to integrate those duties before the set up cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

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

The situation 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 towers is nothing new, with popular causes consisting of high turnover and budget plan cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are frequently 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 said: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The 2 aircraft had actually clashed in a substantial fireball that was visible on dashcams of vehicles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for a number of minutes until they tentatively began evacuating.

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

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

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

Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to medical facility.

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

The aircraft took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had actually opened.

American Airlines