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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their investigation into the cause of the disaster which occurred 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, private investigators raised concerns of more collisions involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters should use the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘permanent solution’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency units react after a passenger airplane 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 crash

It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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

It was discovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of airplanes getting signals about helicopters being 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 data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that information at any time to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that path; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I think the question is when this information comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to state «hi, this is a hot area, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our methods we are gon na lose lives».’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides safety.’

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses that the data 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, killing 67 individuals

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

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

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, stating: ‘We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s immediate safety suggestions to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.

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

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

Investigators believe 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 crowded skies around the nation ´ s capital.

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was all at once keeping an eye on both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

Those jobs are normally dealt with between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those tasks are generally managed between 2 people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport caught the minute the two clashed 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 duties are usually combined and left to someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager reportedly decided to integrate those responsibilities 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 numerous years, with simply 19 fully accredited controllers as of September 2023 — well listed 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 since 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 absolutely nothing new, with well-known causes including 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, six days a week.

After the release of the report, previous 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 suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.’

The two airplane had actually clashed in a big fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta traveler aircraft crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for several minutes until they tentatively began evacuating.

The aircraft had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis — Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and four crew members on board.

Some 21 people were required to the healthcare facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in compensation.

And the plane carnage is continuous — on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a car park of a rural Pennsylvania retirement community.

Dramatic video showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in . Five individuals were hurried to hospital.

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

The aircraft took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, however quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had opened.

American Airlines