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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 airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the disaster which happened 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 airplanes.

As part of a preliminary report launched on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more collisions involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must utilize the area civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA discover a ‘long-term service’ for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport’s runways remain in usage.

Emergency units respond after a traveler airplane 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 likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning signs in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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

It was discovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of aircrafts getting signals about helicopters remaining in close distance in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise 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 included: ‘That data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that information any time to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t happen, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed 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 is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to say “hi, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we don’t change our ways we are gon na lose lives”.’

He included: ‘That wasn’t done, perhaps there was a focus on something other than security.’

Duffy would later included when questioned by a reporter about the near misses out on that the information had ‘p *** ed him off’.

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

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

The crash 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 area.

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

‘We will continue to collaborate closely with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative party member.’

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed out on part of another interaction, when the tower stated the jet was turning towards a different runway, Homendy said 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.

Investigators 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 nation ´ s capital.

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

Those tasks are normally managed in between two individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

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

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

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

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

A supervisor supposedly chose to combine those tasks before the set up 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 many years, with just 19 totally licensed controllers since September 2023 – well listed below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation appeared to have actually improved 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 towers is nothing new, with widely known causes including high turnover and budget 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 stated: ‘This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency suggestion requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is uncommon.’

The two aircraft had actually collided in a substantial fireball that was noticeable 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 traveler aircraft 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 seat belts for several minutes until they tentatively started leaving.

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

Some 21 people were required to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

And the plane carnage is ongoing – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking area of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to hospital.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation automobiles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the plane and neighboring automobiles.

The plane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had opened.

American Airlines