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

Federal private investigators have actually raised concerns of a capacity for another fatal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their examination into the reason for the disaster 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 everybody on board both aircrafts.

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

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

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

When police, medical or governmental transportation helicopters should utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the same location.

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

Emergency systems respond after a passenger 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 speaks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

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

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 aircrafts getting informs about helicopters being in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also stated that there were 85 cases where two airplane where laterally split by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy included: ‘That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that info any time to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But sadly, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I believe the concern is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say « hello, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t alter our methods we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

Duffy would later on 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, killing 67 people

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Investigators believe that the helicopter included in the crash may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely happened at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the plane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that place.

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 coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards a various runway, Homendy stated 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 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 simultaneously keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

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

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

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

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was all at once keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the tasks are usually integrated and delegated someone as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager supposedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the arranged cutoff time however, and enabled 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 actually been understaffed for many years, with just 19 completely 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 scenario appeared to have enhanced since then, 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 towers is absolutely nothing new, with widely known causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are frequently 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 said: ‘This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion requesting the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.’

The 2 aircraft had 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 February 17, a Delta guest aircraft crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for a number of minutes up until they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 people were required to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has 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 suburban Pennsylvania retirement community.

Dramatic video showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to hospital.

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

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

American Airlines