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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an update on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe which happened 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 an initial report released on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more accidents including helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When police, medical or presidential transportation helicopters need to use the area civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the exact same location.

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

react after a passenger aircraft collided 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 accident

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

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

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

The NTSB also 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 added: ‘That data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have utilized that info at any time to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, 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 information can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say “hi, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we don’t change our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a concentrate on something aside from safety.’

Duffy would later added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses out on that the data 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, eliminating 67 individuals

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

The collision likely occurred at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the plane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.

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

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

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

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was going through a yearly test and a test on using night vision goggles, 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 country ´ s capital.

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was all at once monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

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

Those jobs are typically dealt with between two individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport recorded the moment the two clashed in midair

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. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the duties are typically integrated and delegated someone 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 allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

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

The circumstance appeared to have improved given that then, 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 towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with popular causes consisting of 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, 6 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 unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is rare.’

The two airplane had clashed in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of vehicles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for several minutes up until they tentatively started leaving.

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

Some 21 people were required to the healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has provided each individual a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

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

Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to health center.

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

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

American Airlines