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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the disaster 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 everyone on board both airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: 'We remain worried about the substantial 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 cease at the end of the month.

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

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA find a 'permanent solution' for detours for helicopters when two of the airport's runways are in usage.

Emergency units react 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

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

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

It was uncovered that 15,214 'near-miss events' of planes getting informs about helicopters being in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also stated that there were 85 cases where 2 aircraft where laterally split by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy included: 'That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and looked at that path; that didn't take place, which is why we're acting today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy said: 'I think the concern is when this information is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to state "hey, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we don't change our ways we are gon na lose lives".'

He added: 'That wasn't done, possibly there was a focus on something aside from security.'

Duffy would later on included when questioned by a 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 people

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Investigators think that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

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

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, stating: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's urgent safety recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.

'We will continue to coordinate carefully with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative celebration member.'

The helicopter pilots might 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 goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators believe the team was using safety glasses throughout the flight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A manager reportedly chose to integrate those duties 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 actually been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 completely licensed controllers as of 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 actually 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 towers is nothing new, with widely known causes including 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, 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 'unusual'.

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

The 2 aircraft had collided 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 February 17, a Delta traveler aircraft crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for numerous minutes up until they tentatively began evacuating.

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

Some 21 people were taken to the healthcare facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.

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

Dramatic video showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency automobiles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the airplane and neighboring vehicles.

The plane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, however quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.

American Airlines