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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their examination into the reason for 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, killing everybody on board both airplanes.

As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more collisions involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When authorities, medical or governmental transport helicopters should utilize the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from remaining in the same location.

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

Emergency systems respond after a traveler airplane 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 talks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

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

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

It was uncovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of aircrafts getting informs about helicopters being in close distance in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise said 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 included: ‘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 pattern here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re taking action today. But sadly, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the concern is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say “hey, 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 reporter about the near misses that the information 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 believe that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

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

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

‘We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower said the jet was turning towards a various 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 said.

Investigators believe the team was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the crash, a single air controller was simultaneously keeping an eye on both the helicopter and plane traffic.

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

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

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

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

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

A manager apparently decided to combine those tasks before the scheduled cutoff time however, and enabled 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 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 scenario appeared to have 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 absolutely nothing new, with well-known causes including high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are often 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 ‘unusual’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency situation recommendation requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is uncommon.’

The 2 airplane had clashed in a huge 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 February 17, a Delta traveler aircraft crashed-landed upside down in chaotic 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 began leaving.

The airplane had actually 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 minor injuries, and Delta has actually provided everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to medical facility.

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

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

American Airlines