Plane crash warning as damning 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 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 collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everyone on board both aircrafts.
As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more collisions involving helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We remain concerned about the significant potential for future mid-air collision at DCA.'
Her concerns revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy moving to restrict helicopter traffic around the area, but that is set to cease at the end of the month.
When police, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must use the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the same area.
Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a 'permanent solution' for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport's runways are in use.
Emergency units respond 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 speaks to 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 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 events' of planes getting alerts about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB also 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 added: 'That data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that information any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn't occur, which is why we're taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved 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 data comes in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to say "hey, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses and if we don't change our ways we are gonna lose lives".'
He added: 'That wasn't done, maybe there was a focus on something other than safety.'
Duffy would later added 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 people
Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash might have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.
The collision likely occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the plane descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that location.
On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: 'We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough investigation.
'We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.'
The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said 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 undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy said.
Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.
The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation´s capital.
At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic.
Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9:30pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.
Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9:30pm, according to the report.
Surveillance footage taken from inside the airport captured the moment the two collided in midair
At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30pm the duties are typically combined 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 however, and allowed 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 many years, with just 19 fully certified controllers as of 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 improved since then, 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 new, with well-known causes including high turnover and budget cuts.
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, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as 'unusual'.
She said: 'This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is rare.'
The two aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.
Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta passenger plane crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes until they tentatively began evacuating.
The plane had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and four crew members on board.
Some 21 people were taken to the hospital for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has offered each person a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.
And the plane carnage is ongoing - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.
Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to hospital.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and nearby vehicles.
The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac because its door had opened.
