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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their examination into the cause of the catastrophe which happened on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter clashed in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both airplanes.

As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, private investigators raised concerns of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When cops, medical or presidential transport helicopters should use the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘permanent solution’ for alternate paths for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency systems respond after a passenger 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 to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning signs in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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

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

The NTSB likewise said 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 data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that info whenever to figure out that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the question is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to state “hello, this is a location, we are having near misses 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 aside from 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 being in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people

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

The accident likely occurred at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the airplane descended 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 safety suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive investigation.

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

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed part of another interaction, 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 an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

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

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

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those tasks are usually handled in between two individuals from 10am till 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 until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video drawn from inside the airport caught the minute the two collided 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 plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the duties are usually integrated and left to someone as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to integrate those tasks before the scheduled cutoff time however, and permitted 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 lots of years, with just 19 totally certified controllers since September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually enhanced since 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 towers is nothing brand-new, with popular causes consisting of high turnover and budget plan 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, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as ‘unusual’.

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

The two airplane had actually clashed in a big fireball that showed up 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 guest aircraft 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 numerous minutes till they tentatively began evacuating.

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

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

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

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and close-by lorries.

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

American Airlines