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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for the catastrophe which occurred 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 airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‘We remain worried about the significant potential for future mid-air collision at DCA.’

Her issues focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to restrict helicopter traffic around the location, but that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters should use the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA find a ‘long-term service’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency systems respond after a traveler 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 accident

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

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

It was discovered 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 two 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) might have used that details at any time to figure out that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re acting today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I believe the concern is when this information is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to state “hello, this is a hot area, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t change our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, possibly 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, killing 67 people

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Investigators think that the helicopter included in the crash may have had inaccurate elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision most likely took place at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the airplane came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.

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 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 toward a various 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 stated 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 keeping an eye on both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

Those tasks are generally managed in between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

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

Surveillance video footage taken from inside the airport recorded the minute the 2 clashed in midair

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

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

A supervisor apparently decided to combine those tasks before the set up cutoff time however, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been for numerous years, with simply 19 fully 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 situation appeared to have 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 service towers is absolutely nothing brand-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 deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

She said: ‘This NTSB action is highly uncommon. The release of an emergency 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 huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars and trucks 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 airplane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for a number of minutes up until they tentatively began evacuating.

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the medical facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.

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

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency cars rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the aircraft and neighboring automobiles.

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

American Airlines