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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for the disaster 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 everybody on board both aircrafts.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‘We stay concerned about the significant potential 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 cops, medical or governmental transport helicopters must utilize the area civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the very same location.

the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA discover a ‘long-term option’ for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency units respond after a passenger 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 talks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

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

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

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

The NTSB likewise 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 included: ‘That data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have utilized that info any time to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and looked at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked 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 state “hello, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we do not alter our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He added: ‘That wasn’t done, possibly there was a concentrate on something besides security.’

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a 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 involved in the crash might have had unreliable altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident most likely occurred at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the airplane descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that area.

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

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

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

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

Investigators believe the team was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

The Army has said the Black Hawk team 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 simultaneously keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

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

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

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

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are typically integrated and delegated someone as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A supervisor 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 stated that staffing setup ‘was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’.

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

The situation appeared to have actually enhanced considering that 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 service towers is absolutely nothing new, with well-known causes including high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are regularly asked to work 10-hour days, six 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 said: ‘This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is uncommon.’

The two airplane had collided in a substantial fireball that showed up 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 chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.

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

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

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

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to health center.

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

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

American Airlines