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

Federal private investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another lethal airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe which happened 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 aircrafts.

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

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

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

When cops, medical or presidential transport helicopters should use the space civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the same location.

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

Emergency systems react after a guest airplane hit 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

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

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

It was revealed that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of aircrafts getting notifies about helicopters remaining in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise said that there were 85 cases where two aircraft where laterally divided 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 details any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed these findings at a later press conference on Tuesday.

Duffy stated: ‘I think the question is when this information comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to state « hello, this is a hot area, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our ways we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

Duffy would later included 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, killing 67 individuals

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

The crash likely happened at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft descended towards 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 safety recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower said 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 undergoing a yearly test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic.

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

Those jobs are normally managed in between two people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance footage taken from inside the airport recorded the moment the two clashed in midair

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was at the same time monitoring both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the duties are typically combined and delegated one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the set up cutoff time nevertheless, and permitted 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 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have actually improved considering that 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 towers is nothing brand-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, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘unusual’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely uncommon. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The 2 aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of cars and trucks 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 aircraft crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

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

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the medical facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has provided each person a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and neighboring 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 opened.

American Airlines