Federal investigators have raised concerns of a capacity for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash previously this year eliminated 67.
The National Transportation
Safety Board provided an update on their investigation into the reason for the disaster which took place on January 29 in Washington.
An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military
helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everybody on board both airplanes.
As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more crashes including helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: 'We stay worried about the considerable capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.'
Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy moving to limit helicopter traffic around the area, however that is set to cease at the end of the month.
When police, medical or governmental transportation helicopters should use the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from remaining in the same area.
Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a 'irreversible solution' for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport's runways are in use.
Emergency systems respond after a passenger 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident
It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check 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 discovered that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of planes getting signals about helicopters remaining in close distance between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB likewise stated 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 added: 'That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information at any time to identify that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn't happen, which is why we're taking action today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.
Duffy stated: 'I believe the concern is when this information is available in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to state "hey, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on 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 on added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses that the information had 'p *** ed him off'.
Pictured: Parts of the
wreckage seen being in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people
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Investigators believe that the helicopter included in the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.
The crash most likely occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.
On Tuesday American Airlines invited 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 investigation.
'We will continue to collaborate carefully 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 stated 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 believe the crew was using night vision goggles throughout the flight.
The Army has said the Black Hawk team was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the country ยด s capital.
At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping an eye on both the
helicopter and airplane traffic.
Those tasks are usually dealt with between 2 people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.
Those jobs are typically handled in between two individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.
Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport caught the minute the two collided in midair
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. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30 pm the tasks are generally integrated and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.
A manager supposedly chose to
combine those tasks before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.
The FAA report stated that staffing configuration 'was not
typical for the time of day and volume of traffic'.
Reagan National has been understaffed for lots of years, with just 19 fully
licensed controllers since September 2023 - well listed below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.
The situation appeared to have actually improved given that then, as a source informed 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 brand-new, with well-known causes including high turnover and budget cuts.
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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are frequently asked to work 10-hour days, six 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 highly unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is unusual.'
The 2 airplane had actually collided in a huge fireball that was visible 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 guest aircraft crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for a number of minutes up until they tentatively started leaving.
The aircraft had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 guests and 4 team members on board.
Some 21 people were taken to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually provided each individual 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 area of a rural Pennsylvania retirement home.
Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to health center.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency automobiles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the airplane and close-by cars.
The airplane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.
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