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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their investigation into the cause of the disaster which happened on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everybody on board both airplanes.

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

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

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

When police, medical or governmental transportation helicopters need to utilize the space civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now advising that the FAA discover a ‘long-term solution’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

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

It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning 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 uncovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of aircrafts getting alerts about helicopters remaining in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also 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 added: ‘That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that path; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the concern is when this information is available in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say “hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t change our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He added: ‘That wasn’t done, maybe there was a concentrate on something other than security.’

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 individuals

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Investigators think that the helicopter involved in the crash might have had unreliable elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

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

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘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 carefully with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots may have also missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards a different runway, Homendy stated 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 stated.

Investigators think the team was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

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

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

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

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

Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport caught the minute the 2 collided in midair

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was all at once keeping an eye on 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 someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to combine those duties before the set up cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for lots of years, with simply 19 fully licensed 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 circumstance appeared to have actually enhanced considering 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 well-known causes consisting of high turnover and budget plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are often 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 deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The two aircraft had actually 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, on February 17, a Delta passenger airplane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for a number of minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.

The plane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and 4 team members on board.

Some 21 individuals were taken to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and nearby lorries.

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

American Airlines