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

Federal investigators have raised issues of a potential for another lethal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their examination into the cause of the catastrophe which occurred on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter clashed in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both airplanes.

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

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

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

When authorities, medical or governmental transportation helicopters must utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the exact same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘irreversible option’ for alternate routes for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in use.

Emergency systems react after a guest airplane 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 speaks with press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

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

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

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

The NTSB likewise stated 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 information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have utilized that details whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed 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 data comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say “hello, 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 aside from safety.’

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 sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 individuals

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Investigators think that the helicopter associated with the crash might have had inaccurate elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

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

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

‘We will continue to collaborate closely with PSA Airlines as it works together as an investigative celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed out on part of another interaction, 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 goggles throughout the flight.

The Army has stated the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation ´ s capital.

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic.

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

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

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

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was at the same time 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 combined and left to one individual as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager supposedly decided to combine those tasks before the set up cutoff time however, and permitted 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 lots of years, with simply 19 completely certified controllers since September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation 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 nothing new, with widely known causes including high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, 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 considered the findings as ‘unusual’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is highly uncommon. The release of an emergency suggestion asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is rare.’

The two airplane had clashed in a big fireball that showed up 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 traveler aircraft 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 until they tentatively started leaving.

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

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

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

Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to medical facility.

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

The aircraft took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.

American Airlines