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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their examination into the cause of 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 everyone on board both aircrafts.

As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more accidents including helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When cops, medical or governmental transportation helicopters must utilize the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from remaining in the exact same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA discover a ‘long-term option’ for alternate paths for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways remain in use.

Emergency systems respond after a guest aircraft 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 talks to press 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 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 events’ of airplanes getting alerts about helicopters being in close distance in 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 info at any time to figure out that we have a trend here and a problem here, and took a look at that path; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I think the question is when this information is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to say “hi, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something aside from security.’

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 people

Your browser does not support iframes.

Investigators think that the helicopter included in the crash might have had unreliable elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident most likely occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that place.

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent safety suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive investigation.

‘We will continue to coordinate carefully with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative celebration 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 using night vision goggles, Homendy said.

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

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

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.

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

Those tasks are generally handled between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video drawn from inside the airport captured the minute the two clashed in midair

At the time of the accident, 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 generally combined and delegated a single person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager reportedly decided to combine those duties before the set up cutoff time however, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for lots of years, with just 19 completely licensed controllers since September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually improved 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 consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

EXCLUSIVE

Full list of DC aircraft crash victims: Four more guests determined after DC airport tragedy

In order to fill the gaps, controllers are often 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 deemed the findings as ‘unusual’.

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

The two airplane had actually collided in a substantial fireball that was noticeable 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 airplane 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 numerous minutes till they tentatively began evacuating.

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

Some 21 individuals were taken to the health center for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has used everyone 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 car park of a rural Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to health center.

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

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

American Airlines