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

Federal detectives have actually raised issues of a capacity for another lethal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision 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, killing everybody on board both aircrafts.

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 remain worried about the considerable potential for future mid-air crash at DCA.’

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

When authorities, medical or governmental transport helicopters need to utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the very same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘long-term solution’ for detours for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in usage.

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 talks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was warning signs 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 occasions’ of aircrafts getting alerts about helicopters being in close proximity in 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 data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that info at any time to figure out that we have a trend here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t happen, 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 said: ‘I think the question is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to say “hello, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we don’t alter our methods we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, possibly there was a focus on something aside from security.’

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a press reporter about the near misses that the data had ‘p *** ed him off’.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

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

The collision most likely occurred at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the plane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that place.

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

‘We will continue to collaborate closely 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 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 an annual test and a test on using night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

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

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the country ´ s capital.

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

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

Those jobs are generally dealt with between two people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

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

After 9:30 pm the tasks are typically 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 scheduled cutoff time however, and enabled 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 certified controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have 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 brand-new, with popular causes consisting of high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are regularly 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 uncommon. The release of an emergency situation suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.’

The 2 aircraft had clashed in a big fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of vehicles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everyone on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes up until they tentatively started evacuating.

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

Some 21 people were required to the medical facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout 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 appear in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to healthcare facility.

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

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

American Airlines