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

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

The National Transportation gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe which occurred 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 aircrafts.

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

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transport helicopters must utilize the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the exact same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA find a ‘irreversible solution’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in use.

Emergency units react after a passenger aircraft 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

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

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

It was uncovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of aircrafts getting alerts about helicopters being in close distance 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 utilized that details any time to identify that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and looked at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the concern is when this information comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to state “hello, this is a hot area, we are having near misses and if we do not change our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, possibly there was a concentrate on something besides security.’

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

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

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Investigators believe that the helicopter included in the crash might have had unreliable elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

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

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

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

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed part of another communication, when the tower stated 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 undergoing an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

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

The Army has said the Black Hawk team was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation ´ s capital.

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

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

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

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport captured the moment the 2 clashed in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are typically integrated and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager supposedly chose to combine those tasks before the arranged cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for lots of years, with just 19 totally accredited controllers since 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 ever since, 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 service 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 frequently 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 recommendation asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.’

The two airplane had actually collided in a substantial fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of vehicles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everyone on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for numerous minutes up until they tentatively started leaving.

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

Some 21 people were taken to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually offered each individual a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to medical facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and neighboring cars.

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

American Airlines