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

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

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

An American Airlines jetliner and a military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everybody on board both aircrafts.

As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more collisions including helicopters at the airport.

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

Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy relocating to restrict helicopter traffic around the area, but that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When police, medical or governmental transportation helicopters must use the area civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the same area.

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

Emergency systems 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 with reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check in the lead up to the deadly 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 planes 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 aircraft 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) might have used that information any time to figure out that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that path; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action 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 concern is when this information is available 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 don’t change our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He added: ‘That wasn’t done, maybe there was a concentrate on something other than security.’

Duffy would later included when questioned by a press 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 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators believe that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had unreliable elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision likely took place at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the aircraft descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that place.

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 restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said 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 going through a yearly test and a test on utilizing night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

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

The Army has stated 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 aircraft traffic.

Those jobs are usually handled in between two 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 2 individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport captured the minute the 2 clashed in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the tasks are usually combined and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to integrate those duties before the set up 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 completely licensed controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually enhanced ever since, 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 service towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are often asked to work 10-hour days, six days a week.

After the release of the report, former 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 situation suggestion asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is rare.’

The two aircraft had actually clashed in a substantial fireball that was visible 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 February 17, a Delta passenger plane crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes up until they tentatively started evacuating.

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

Some 21 individuals were required to the medical facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered each individual a no-strings $30,000 payment in compensation.

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

Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to healthcare facility.

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

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

American Airlines