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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their examination into the reason for the disaster which took place on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everybody on board both airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We stay worried about the significant capacity for future mid-air crash at DCA.’

Her concerns revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to restrict helicopter traffic around the location, however that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must use the space civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the exact same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘irreversible option’ for alternate routes for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency units respond after a passenger aircraft 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 talks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning indications in the lead up to the fatal catastrophe.

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

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

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

Homendy added: ‘That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information at any time to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But sadly, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed 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 information comes 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 ways 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 included when questioned by a 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, killing 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 happened at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the plane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that location.

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

‘We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it works together as an investigative celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated 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 going through an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

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

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

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was concurrently monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic.

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

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

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport recorded the minute the 2 collided in midair

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

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

A supervisor reportedly chose to integrate those responsibilities before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for numerous years, with simply 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have actually improved 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 popular causes including high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are regularly 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 deemed the findings as ‘unusual’.

She said: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is unusual.’

The 2 aircraft had actually clashed in a substantial fireball that showed up on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before into the river.

Less than a month later on, on February 17, a Delta passenger airplane 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 plane had 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 healthcare facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually provided each person 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 parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and nearby lorries.

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

American Airlines