29sixservices

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

Federal private investigators have actually raised issues of a potential for another deadly aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident earlier this year killed 67.

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

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter clashed in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both aircrafts.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We remain 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 location, however that is set to cease at the end of the month.

When cops, medical or governmental transportation helicopters need to utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the very same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘long-term option’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways remain 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 speaks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was alerting indications in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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

It was uncovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of planes getting informs about helicopters being in close distance between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise said that there were 85 cases where 2 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 utilized that information whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and looked at that route; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re doing something about it today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy stated: ‘I think the is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to state “hey, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

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

Duffy would later included when questioned by a 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 individuals

Your browser does not support iframes.

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

The accident most likely took place at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the plane descended towards 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 recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a different runway, Homendy said last month.

The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was going through an annual test and a test on using night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.

Investigators think the team 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 ´ 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 typically dealt with in between two individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those jobs are usually managed in between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport recorded the moment the 2 clashed in midair

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping an eye on both the helicopter and aircraft traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

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

A manager reportedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the set up cutoff time nevertheless, and permitted 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 several years, with just 19 completely licensed controllers since September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation 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 brand-new, with widely known causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

EXCLUSIVE

Full list of DC aircraft crash victims: Four more travelers determined after DC airport catastrophe

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 considered the findings as ‘unusual’.

She stated: ‘This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is uncommon.’

The 2 aircraft had clashed in a big 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, on February 17, a Delta passenger airplane 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 actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis – Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and 4 crew members on board.

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

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

Dramatic video showed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to medical facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation lorries hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the airplane and neighboring cars.

The aircraft took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, however quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened.

American Airlines