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

Federal investigators have raised concerns of a capacity for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash earlier this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for the catastrophe which happened 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 aircrafts.

As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, private investigators raised concerns of more crashes including helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When police, medical or presidential transport helicopters need to use the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the same area.

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

Emergency systems respond after a guest 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 with press reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

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

Those penetrating 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 notifies about helicopters remaining in close proximity in 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 utilized that information any time to determine that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later press conference 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 data to say « hey, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our methods we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

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

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen being 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 involved in the crash might have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The crash likely occurred at an elevation just 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, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent security suggestions to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

‘We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy said last month.

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was going through a yearly test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

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

The Army has said 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 at the same time monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

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

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

Surveillance video taken 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 an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the duties are normally integrated and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor supposedly decided to combine those tasks before the scheduled cutoff time however, and allowed 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 numerous years, with simply 19 fully accredited 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 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 service towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with well-known causes including high turnover and budget plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are regularly asked to work 10-hour days, 6 days a week.

After the release of the report, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘uncommon’.

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

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

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for numerous minutes till they tentatively began leaving.

The airplane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 travelers and 4 crew members on board.

Some 21 individuals were taken to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the airplane and close-by automobiles.

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

American Airlines