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

Federal detectives have actually raised issues of a potential for another deadly airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for 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, killing everyone on board both airplanes.

As part of a preliminary report launched on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more accidents involving helicopters at the airport.

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

Her concerns revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy relocating to limit helicopter traffic around the area, but that is set to stop at the end of the month.

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

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘irreversible service’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency systems react after a guest airplane collided 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 also exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning signs 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 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 said 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 data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have utilized that details at any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and took a look at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re taking action today. But regrettably, 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 question is when this data is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to say “hey, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

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

Duffy would later on included when questioned by a reporter about the near misses that the information 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 individuals

Your internet browser does not support iframes.

Investigators think that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident most likely took place at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the plane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that area.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent security recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

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

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a different runway, Homendy stated 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 goggles, Homendy stated.

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

The Army has stated the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the country ´ s capital.

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

Those tasks are usually managed between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those tasks are usually managed in between 2 individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport captured the moment the two collided in midair

At the time of the crash, 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 duties are generally combined and delegated one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to integrate those tasks before the arranged cutoff time however, 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 actually been understaffed for several years, with just 19 fully certified controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have 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 brand-new, with popular causes including high turnover and budget plan cuts.

EXCLUSIVE

Full list of DC aircraft crash victims: Four more travelers identified after DC airport tragedy

In order to fill the gaps, controllers are regularly 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 highly unusual. The release of an emergency situation recommendation requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.’

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

Less than a month later on, 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 survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for several minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered each person a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.

And the aircraft carnage is ongoing – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking area of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and close-by cars.

The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.

American Airlines