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

Federal private investigators have actually raised concerns of a potential for another lethal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their examination into the reason for 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, eliminating everyone on board both aircrafts.

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

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

Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy moving to limit helicopter traffic around the area, but that is set to cease at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters should use the area civilian planes are stopped from being in the same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now advising that the FAA find a ‘permanent solution’ for detours for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency systems react after a guest 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 speaks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was alerting indications in the lead up to the lethal disaster.

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

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

The NTSB also stated that there were 85 cases where two airplane where laterally split by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy added: ‘That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have utilized that information at any time to identify that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re acting today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and enjoyed 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 information is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to say « hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t alter our methods we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

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 being in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

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Investigators believe that the helicopter included in the crash may have had inaccurate elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely happened at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the airplane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that place.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent security suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards a different runway, Homendy stated last month.

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was going through a yearly test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators think the team was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

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

Those jobs are usually managed between two individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early seen by The New York Times.

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

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

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

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

A manager reportedly decided to integrate those duties before the scheduled cutoff time however, and allowed 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 just 19 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 – well 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 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 new, with popular causes including high turnover and budget plan 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, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as ‘uncommon’.

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

The two aircraft had actually clashed in a big fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes till they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 individuals were taken to the healthcare facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in settlement.

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

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and nearby lorries.

The plane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had actually opened.

American Airlines