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

Federal detectives have raised issues of a capacity for another deadly airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board provided 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 everybody on board both airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We stay concerned about the considerable potential for future mid-air accident at DCA.’

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

When cops, medical or governmental transport helicopters should utilize the area civilian planes are stopped from being in the very same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘irreversible solution’ for detours for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in use.

Emergency systems react after a traveler 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 speaks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

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

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

It was discovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of airplanes getting informs about helicopters remaining in close distance between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also said 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 data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that info whenever to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I believe the question is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to state «hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses and if we don’t alter our ways we are gon na lose lives».’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides safety.’

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 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 might have had inaccurate elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The crash most likely took place at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the plane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation 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 as it cooperates as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots might have also missed out on part of another communication, 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 undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

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

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

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those jobs are normally handled in between two individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are normally handled in between two individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport captured the minute the 2 collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are typically combined and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor apparently decided to integrate those duties before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed 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 been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 fully accredited controllers since September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have actually improved since then, 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 nothing brand-new, with widely known causes consisting of 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 said: ‘This NTSB action is extremely uncommon. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.’

The 2 airplane had actually clashed in a big fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, 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 survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes up until they tentatively began leaving.

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

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

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

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to medical facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation automobiles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and neighboring lorries.

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

American Airlines