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

Federal detectives have actually raised issues of a capacity for another fatal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year killed 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 in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We stay concerned about the considerable potential for future mid-air crash at DCA.’

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

When cops, medical or presidential transportation helicopters should use the area civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the exact same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA discover a ‘long-term solution’ for detours for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in use.

Emergency units react after a guest airplane 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

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

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 aircrafts getting notifies about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where two airplane where laterally divided 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 used that details at any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re taking action today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I believe the concern is when this data comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to state “hello, this is a hot spot, 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 focus on something besides 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 sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators believe that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision most likely happened at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the plane 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, stating: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent safety recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a different runway, Homendy said last month.

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

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

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the nation ´ s capital.

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping an eye on both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

Those tasks are typically dealt with between 2 people from 10am 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 till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport captured the moment the 2 collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the duties are generally combined and left to one individual as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor apparently chose to integrate those responsibilities before the scheduled cutoff time however, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for many years, with just 19 completely licensed controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have enhanced ever since, 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 absolutely nothing brand-new, with popular causes including high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are frequently 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 deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

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

The 2 airplane had clashed in a big fireball that showed up on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later on, on February 17, a Delta traveler airplane 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 several minutes till they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 people were taken to the health center for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the plane and nearby automobiles.

The airplane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened.

American Airlines