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

Federal detectives have actually raised issues of a capacity for another fatal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash earlier this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade 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 collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everybody on board both airplanes.

As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, private investigators raised concerns of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

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

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

Emergency units react after a traveler aircraft 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 with reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

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

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

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

The NTSB likewise 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 added: ‘That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that info any time to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the concern is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to state « hey, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we do not change our methods we are gon na lose lives ».’

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

Duffy would later on included 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 associated with the crash might have had unreliable altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely took place at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that location.

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 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 celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed part of another communication, 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 using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

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

The Army has stated the Black Hawk team 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 at the same time keeping an eye on both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those jobs are generally dealt with in between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are normally dealt with in between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

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

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

A manager reportedly chose to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report stated that staffing configuration ‘was not regular for the time of day and volume of traffic’.

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for many years, with just 19 fully certified controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually 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 nothing new, with popular causes consisting of high turnover and budget plan cuts.

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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, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘unusual’.

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

The 2 airplane had actually clashed in a huge fireball that showed up on dashcams of vehicles 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 plane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for several minutes until they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 individuals were taken to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and neighboring lorries.

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

American Airlines