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

Federal investigators have raised concerns of a capacity for another lethal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident earlier this year eliminated 67.

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

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

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

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

When police, medical or presidential transport helicopters should utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA find a ‘permanent option’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency systems react after a guest aircraft hit 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 also exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting 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 airplanes getting informs about helicopters remaining in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also stated that there were 85 cases where 2 airplane where laterally split by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy added: ‘That data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that path; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I believe the concern is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say « hi, this is a hot area, we are having near misses and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a 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 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident likely happened at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down 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 immediate safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.

‘We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.’

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

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

Investigators think the crew 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 concurrently keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

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

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

Surveillance video footage taken from inside the airport caught the minute the two clashed in midair

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

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

A manager apparently decided to combine those duties before the set up cutoff time nevertheless, 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 been understaffed for several years, with just 19 fully licensed controllers as of September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The situation appeared to have actually enhanced given that then, as a source informed CNN the Reagan National control tower was 85 percent staffed with 24 of 28 positions filled.

Chronic understaffing at air traffic control towers is absolutely 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 often 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 considered the findings as ‘uncommon’.

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

The two airplane had collided in a substantial fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars and trucks driving on that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later on, 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 survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for a number of minutes till they tentatively started leaving.

The airplane had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 travelers and 4 crew members on board.

Some 21 individuals were required to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has provided each individual a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.

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

Dramatic video footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation lorries rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the aircraft and close-by automobiles.

The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, however rapidly requested to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.

American Airlines