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

Federal investigators have raised issues of a potential for another lethal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for the catastrophe which occurred on January 29 in Washington.

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

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

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transport helicopters need to use the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the very same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA discover a ‘permanent service’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways remain in use.

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

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

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

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

The NTSB also stated that there were 85 cases where two aircraft where laterally split 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) could have used that details at any time to identify that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the concern is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to state « hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses and if we do not alter our ways we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

Duffy would later added when questioned by a press reporter about the near misses that the data had ‘p *** ed him off’.

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

Your web browser does not support iframes.

Investigators believe that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the plane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit 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 recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.

‘We will continue to coordinate carefully with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards a different 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 utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

Investigators think the crew was using night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

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

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

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

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

Surveillance footage taken from inside the airport captured the minute the 2 clashed in midair

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

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

A manager apparently chose to integrate those duties before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 totally accredited controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually enhanced ever since, 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 brand-new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and budget plan cuts.

EXCLUSIVE

Full list of DC airplane crash victims: Four more guests recognized after DC airport tragedy

In order to fill the gaps, 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 deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is unusual.’

The two airplane had collided in a substantial fireball that showed up 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 guest plane 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 seatbelts for several minutes until they tentatively started leaving.

The airplane 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 healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

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

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

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

The airplane took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, however quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had actually opened.

American Airlines