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

Federal investigators have raised concerns of a capacity for another fatal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash earlier 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, eliminating everyone on board both aircrafts.

As part of a preliminary report launched on Tuesday, investigators raised issues of more crashes including helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We remain worried about the substantial potential for future mid-air crash at DCA.'

Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to restrict helicopter traffic around the location, however that is set to cease at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or governmental transport helicopters must use the space civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the very same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA find a 'long-term solution' for detours for helicopters when two of the airport's runways are in usage.

Emergency units respond 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 press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

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

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

It was discovered that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of planes getting alerts about helicopters being in close distance in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also said that there were 85 cases where two aircraft 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 details whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that path; that didn't happen, which is why we're taking action today. But sadly, individuals lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy stated: 'I believe the concern is when this data comes in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to say "hey, 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 added: 'That wasn't done, maybe there was a concentrate on something besides safety.'

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a press reporter about the near misses out on that the data had 'p *** ed him off'.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

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Investigators believe that the helicopter included in the crash may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

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

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, stating: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's immediate security 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 also 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 undergoing an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

Investigators believe the team was using night vision goggles 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 crash, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping track of both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

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

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

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport caught the moment the 2 clashed in midair

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was all at once keeping track of both the helicopter and aircraft traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are normally combined and delegated a single person as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager supposedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report said that staffing configuration 'was not regular for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

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

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

at air traffic control towers is absolutely nothing new, with widely known causes including high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are regularly asked to work 10-hour days, six 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 stated: 'This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is rare.'

The two airplane had clashed in a huge 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 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 seat belts for numerous minutes until they tentatively began evacuating.

The airplane 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 healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually used each person a no-strings $30,000 payment in settlement.

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

Dramatic video footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to hospital.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation automobiles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and nearby vehicles.

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

American Airlines