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

Federal investigators have actually raised concerns of a potential for another deadly airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their examination into the reason for the catastrophe which took place 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 an initial report launched on Tuesday, detectives raised issues of more accidents including helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We remain worried about the substantial capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.’

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters need to utilize the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from remaining in the same area.

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

Emergency systems respond after a passenger airplane clashed 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 to reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting indications 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 occasions’ of aircrafts getting alerts 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 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 details any time to determine that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But sadly, people lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I think the concern is when this data is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to state “hello, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t change our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

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

Duffy would later added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses that the information had ‘p *** ed him off’.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

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

The collision most likely occurred 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 welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s immediate security recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed out on part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a different 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 using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

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

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded 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 aircraft traffic.

Those jobs are typically handled between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport recorded the minute the two clashed in midair

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and aircraft traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are normally combined and left to someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager supposedly chose to integrate those responsibilities before the set up cutoff time however, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for several years, with just 19 completely certified controllers as of 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 actually enhanced 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 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 frequently 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 ‘uncommon’.

She said: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The 2 airplane had clashed 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 February 17, a Delta passenger 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 seatbelts for a number of minutes till they tentatively started leaving.

The aircraft had 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 health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has provided each individual a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency cars rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and nearby cars.

The airplane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had actually opened.

American Airlines