Federal investigators have actually raised issues of a capacity for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash previously this year killed 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board provided an update on their investigation into the reason for 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 airplanes.
As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, detectives raised concerns of more accidents involving helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We stay worried about the substantial capacity for future mid-air crash at DCA.'
Her concerns revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy moving to restrict helicopter traffic around the area, but that is set to stop at the end of the month.
When police, medical or presidential transport helicopters must utilize the area civilian planes are stopped from being in the same area.
Homendy said the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA find a 'long-term service' for detours for helicopters when two of the airport's runways are in use.
Emergency systems react after a traveler 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 press reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident
It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was warning check in the lead up to the fatal disaster.
Those the crash went through 944,179 operations between October 2021 and December 2024.
It was discovered that 15,214 'near-miss events' of airplanes getting informs about helicopters remaining in close distance 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 included: 'That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) could have used that info any time to figure out that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn't occur, which is why we're acting today. But sadly, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.
Duffy said: 'I think the question is when this information comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to state "hello, this is a hot area, we are having near misses and if we do not change our methods we are gon na lose lives".'
He included: 'That wasn't done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides security.'
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 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people
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Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.
The accident most likely occurred at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down toward 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 security recommendations to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive examination.
'We will continue to collaborate closely with PSA Airlines as it complies 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 toward a different 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 safety glasses, Homendy stated.
Investigators think the team was using night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.
The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the country ยด s capital.
At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic.
Those tasks are typically managed in between 2 individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.
Those jobs are normally managed between 2 people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.
Surveillance video taken from inside the airport captured the minute the 2 clashed in midair
At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30 pm the tasks are usually combined and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.
A supervisor supposedly chose to combine those responsibilities before the scheduled cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.
The FAA report stated that staffing configuration 'was not typical for the time of day and volume of traffic'.
Reagan National has actually been understaffed for many years, with simply 19 completely accredited controllers as of September 2023 - well listed below the target of 30 - according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.
The circumstance appeared to have actually 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 service towers is nothing new, with popular causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.
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In order to fill the gaps, 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 deemed the findings as 'uncommon'.
She stated: 'This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency situation recommendation requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is uncommon.'
The two aircraft had clashed in a big 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 guest plane crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everybody on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for numerous minutes until they tentatively started leaving.
The aircraft had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 travelers and 4 team members on board.
Some 21 individuals were taken to the healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually provided everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.
And the airplane carnage is ongoing - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a rural Pennsylvania retirement community.
Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to medical facility.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the aircraft and nearby vehicles.
The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had actually opened.
American Airlines