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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their examination into the cause of the disaster 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 released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more accidents involving helicopters at the airport.

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

Her concerns revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to limit helicopter traffic around the area, however that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When cops, medical or presidential transport helicopters must utilize the area civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the exact same location.

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

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 to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was warning indications 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 signals about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also said that there were 85 cases where two airplane 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 information whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and looked at that route; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I believe the question is when this data is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to say “hello, this is a hot area, 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, maybe there was a focus on something other than security.’

Duffy would later added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses out on that the information 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 individuals

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

The accident likely occurred at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the plane descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that location.

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

‘We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative celebration member.’

The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy stated 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 said.

Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

The Army has stated the Black Hawk team was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the country ´ s capital.

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was concurrently monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

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

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

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

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

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

A supervisor apparently chose to combine those duties before the arranged cutoff time however, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report said 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 fully accredited controllers since September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The scenario 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 towers is nothing new, with widely known causes including high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, are regularly 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 ‘uncommon’.

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

The two airplane had collided in a big fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of cars 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 chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for a number of minutes till they tentatively began evacuating.

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

Some 21 people were required to the health center for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually offered 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 suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency cars rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and close-by lorries.

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

American Airlines