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

Federal investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another fatal plane 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 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, eliminating everybody on board both aircrafts.

As part of a preliminary report launched on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more accidents including helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: ‘We remain concerned about the substantial capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.’

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

When authorities, medical or governmental transport helicopters should use the area civilian planes are stopped from remaining in the same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a ‘long-term service’ for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in usage.

Emergency units react after a traveler 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 alerting signs in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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

It was uncovered that 15,214 ‘near-miss occasions’ of aircrafts getting informs about helicopters being in close proximity in 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 used that information at any time to identify that we have a trend here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn’t take place, which is why we’re acting today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’

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

Duffy said: ‘I think the concern is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say “hey, 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, possibly there was a concentrate on something besides security.’

Duffy would later on 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 collided with 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 incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident likely happened at an altitude simply under 300 feet, as the airplane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that area.

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

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

The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another interaction, when the tower stated 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 utilizing night vision goggles, Homendy said.

Investigators think the crew was using night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

The Army has stated the Black Hawk team was highly experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the country ´ s capital.

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

Those tasks are normally handled in 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 typically managed between two individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

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

After 9:30 pm the tasks are normally integrated and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly decided to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report stated that staffing setup ‘was not normal 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 below the target of 30 – according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation appeared to have enhanced 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 service towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with widely known causes consisting of high turnover and budget 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 considered the findings as .

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

The two aircraft had actually collided in a substantial fireball that showed up on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes till they tentatively began evacuating.

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

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

And the airplane carnage is ongoing – on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a car park of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement community.

Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were rushed to health center.

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

The aircraft took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, however quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened.

American Airlines