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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe 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, killing everyone on board both aircrafts.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‘We remain concerned about the considerable capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.’

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

When authorities, medical or governmental transportation helicopters should use the area civilian planes are stopped from being in the exact same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘irreversible solution’ for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in use.

Emergency units react after a traveler 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 speaks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting signs in the lead up to the fatal catastrophe.

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

It was revealed that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of airplanes getting informs about helicopters being in close distance 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 information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that info at any time to figure out that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed 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 know. How did they not study the data to state “hi, this is a location, 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, maybe there was a concentrate on something other than safety.’

Duffy would later included 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 people

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

The crash likely took place at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower said 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 using night vision goggles, Homendy said.

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

The Army has stated the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the around the country ´ s capital.

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

Those jobs are typically handled in between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those jobs are typically managed in between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance footage 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 at the same time keeping an eye on both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the tasks are usually integrated and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager supposedly chose to combine those duties before the set up cutoff time however, and allowed 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 numerous years, with simply 19 fully licensed controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have improved 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 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, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency situation suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The 2 airplane had actually clashed in a big fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars and trucks driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta guest airplane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes till they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the healthcare facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency automobiles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and nearby lorries.

The airplane took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had opened.

American Airlines