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 crash earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave 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 collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everyone on board both aircrafts.

As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more accidents including helicopters at the airport.

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

Her issues 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 governmental transportation helicopters should utilize the area civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the exact same location.

Homendy said 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 respond after a passenger 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 talks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting indications in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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

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

The NTSB also said 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 included: ‘That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information any time to determine that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and looked at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and liked 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 comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say « hey, this is a hot area, we are having near misses and if we don’t alter our methods we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

Duffy would later on added 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, killing 67 people

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Investigators believe that the helicopter associated with the crash might have had inaccurate elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely occurred at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that location.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed 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 collaborate carefully with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots may have also missed out on part of another communication, when the tower said 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 undergoing a yearly test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

The Army has stated the Black Hawk crew 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 at the same time keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those tasks are usually handled in between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those tasks are typically dealt with between two individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

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

After 9:30 pm the duties are typically integrated and left to someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to combine those responsibilities before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 totally certified controllers since 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 improved 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 service towers is nothing brand-new, with popular causes including high turnover and budget 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, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely uncommon. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The two had clashed in a huge fireball that was visible 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 guest plane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes up until they tentatively started evacuating.

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

Some 21 people were required to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.

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

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency automobiles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and close-by cars.

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

American Airlines