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

Federal investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another deadly airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident earlier this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an upgrade 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 clashed in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everybody on board both airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We stay worried about the considerable capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.’

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

When cops, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must use the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the exact same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA discover a ‘permanent service’ 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 with reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was warning signs in the lead up to the fatal 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 airplanes getting signals about helicopters being in close distance between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where 2 aircraft where laterally divided 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) could have used that details at any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and a problem 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 enjoyed ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I believe the question is when this data comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say “hello, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

He added: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides safety.’

Duffy would later included 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 being in the after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators think that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident most likely happened at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that place.

On Tuesday American Airlines invited 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 investigation.

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

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

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing a yearly test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

Investigators think the crew was using night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

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

Those tasks are usually handled in between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport captured the minute the two collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are usually combined and delegated one individual as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager reportedly decided to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, 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 been understaffed for numerous years, with simply 19 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have actually improved ever since, 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 nothing new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are often 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 ‘unusual’.

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

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

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

The plane had 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 medical facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually offered each person a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to medical facility.

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

The plane took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, however rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had actually opened.

American Airlines