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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update 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 everyone on board both aircrafts.

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

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must use the area civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘permanent solution’ for detours for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency systems respond after a passenger airplane clashed 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 also revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check in the lead up to the lethal disaster.

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

It was that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ 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 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) could have used that information at any time to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But sadly, people lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.’

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

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

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

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

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

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Investigators think that the helicopter involved in the crash might have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident likely took place at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the airplane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that area.

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

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

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

Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those jobs are usually handled between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those tasks are usually handled between 2 people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport captured the minute the two clashed in midair

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

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

A manager reportedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the set up cutoff time nevertheless, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 completely accredited controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have enhanced 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 new, with popular causes consisting of high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, 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 considered the findings as ‘uncommon’.

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

The two airplane had actually clashed in a big fireball that was visible 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 passenger plane crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes until they tentatively started leaving.

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has provided 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 rural Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to medical facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the plane and neighboring cars.

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

American Airlines