Crash Warning as Report into DC Disaster at Reagan Airport Is Released
Federal investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year eliminated 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their examination into the cause of the catastrophe 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 aircrafts.
As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more collisions including helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We stay concerned about the considerable potential for future mid-air collision at DCA.’
Her issues focus on 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 cops, medical or governmental transport helicopters need to utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the exact same location.
Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘long-term solution’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways are in use.
Emergency systems react 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 crash
It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was warning signs in the lead up to the deadly catastrophe.
Those penetrating the crash went through 944,179 operations between October 2021 and December 2024.
It was uncovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss events’ of airplanes getting signals about helicopters remaining in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where 2 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) could have used that info at any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.
Duffy said: ‘I believe the concern is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to state “hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’
He added: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides security.’
Duffy would later included when questioned by a press 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 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people
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Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.
The collision likely took place at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the plane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that place.
On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, saying: ‘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 works together as an investigative party member.’
The helicopter pilots may have also missed out on part of another interaction, when the tower said the jet was turning towards 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 using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.
think the crew was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.
The Army has stated the Black Hawk team was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the country ´ s capital.
At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic.
Those tasks are normally 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 generally dealt with between two people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.
Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport caught the minute the 2 clashed in midair
At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30 pm the duties are typically integrated and delegated a single person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.
A supervisor supposedly decided to combine those duties before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.
The FAA report stated that staffing setup ‘was not typical for the time of day and volume of traffic’.
Reagan National has actually been understaffed for numerous years, with simply 19 fully licensed controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.
The scenario appeared to have 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 towers is absolutely nothing 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 frequently 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 ‘uncommon’.
She stated: ‘This NTSB action is highly uncommon. The release of an emergency situation suggestion asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is uncommon.’
The 2 airplane had 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 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 a number of minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.
The airplane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and 4 team members on board.
Some 21 individuals were required to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually offered each person a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.
And the aircraft carnage is continuous – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement community.
Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to medical facility.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and close-by vehicles.
The plane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.
American Airlines
