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

Federal detectives have actually raised concerns of a capacity 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 update on their investigation 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, eliminating everybody on board both aircrafts.

As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, detectives raised issues of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

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

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘permanent service’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency systems respond after a passenger 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 accident

It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting check in the lead up to the fatal disaster.

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

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

The NTSB also said 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 information any time to determine that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that path; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I believe the question is when this data comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say “hi, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t alter our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, maybe there was a concentrate on something aside from 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 people

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

The crash likely took place at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the airplane came down 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 urgent safety suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.

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

The helicopter pilots may have also missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards 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 safety glasses, Homendy stated.

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 country ´ s capital.

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was all at once monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those tasks are usually dealt with between two individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are typically handled between 2 people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are generally combined and delegated one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager supposedly chose to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 fully certified controllers as of 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 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 service towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with well-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, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as ‘unusual’.

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

The two airplane had clashed in a big fireball that showed up 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 passenger aircraft crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes till they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the medical facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.

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 footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim . Five people were rushed to healthcare facility.

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

The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, however rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.

American Airlines