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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the disaster which took place 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 aircrafts.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‘We remain concerned about the significant potential for future mid-air accident at DCA.’

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

When cops, medical or presidential transport helicopters must use the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA find a ‘irreversible solution’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency units respond after a traveler 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 crash

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

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

It was discovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of airplanes getting notifies about helicopters being in close proximity 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 info any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But sadly, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I believe the question is when this data comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to state « hey, this is a hot area, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t change our ways we are gon na lose lives ».’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, maybe there was a concentrate on something aside from security.’

Duffy would later added 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 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people

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Investigators think that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely occurred at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the aircraft descended towards 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 urgent security suggestions to restrict 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 party member.’

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a different runway, Homendy stated last month.

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

Investigators believe the team 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 collision, a single air traffic controller was all at once monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those tasks are generally handled between two individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are normally handled between two individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage taken from inside the airport recorded the moment 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 plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the tasks are typically 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 however, 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 numerous years, with simply 19 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation appeared to have actually enhanced because 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 well-known causes consisting of high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are often asked to work 10-hour days, six days a week.

After the release of the report, previous General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘unusual’.

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

The two airplane had actually clashed in a big 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 February 17, a Delta passenger aircraft crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for numerous minutes till they tentatively started leaving.

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

Some 21 individuals were taken to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in compensation.

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 video showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and close-by cars.

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

American Airlines