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Federal investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another deadly aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash previously this year killed 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their investigation into the cause of the catastrophe which happened 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 airplanes.
As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, detectives raised issues of more crashes 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 focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to limit helicopter traffic around the location, but that is set to cease at the end of the month.
When cops, medical or governmental transport helicopters should use the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from remaining in the same location.
Homendy said the NTSB is now that the FAA find a 'irreversible service' for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport's runways remain in usage.
Emergency units react after a passenger 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 speaks to press reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident
It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning signs in the lead up to the deadly catastrophe.
Those penetrating the crash went through 944,179 operations in between October 2021 and December 2024.
It was discovered that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of aircrafts getting alerts about helicopters remaining in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB also stated 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 details whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that path; that didn't occur, which is why we're taking action today. But sadly, individuals lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.
Duffy said: 'I believe the concern is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to state "hello, this is a location, 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, maybe there was a concentrate on something other than safety.'
Duffy would later 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 sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 individuals
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Investigators think that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had unreliable altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.
The collision most likely took place at an altitude just 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, stating: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's immediate safety suggestions to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough investigation.
'We will continue to collaborate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative celebration member.'
The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said 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 an annual test and a test on using night vision safety glasses, Homendy stated.
Investigators believe the crew was using night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.
The Army has stated 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 keeping an eye on both the helicopter and airplane traffic.
Those jobs are normally handled between 2 individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.
Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.
Surveillance footage drawn from inside the airport captured the moment the 2 clashed in midair
At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30 pm the duties are typically combined and left to someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.
A supervisor reportedly decided to integrate those duties before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.
The FAA report stated that staffing configuration '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 certified controllers as of September 2023 - well listed below the target of 30 - according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.
The circumstance 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 towers is absolutely nothing brand-new, with widely known causes including high turnover and budget plan cuts.
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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are often asked to work 10-hour days, 6 days a week.
After the release of the report, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as 'uncommon'.
She said: 'This NTSB action is extremely uncommon. The release of an emergency situation recommendation asking for the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.'
The two aircraft had collided in a substantial fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars and trucks driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.
Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta guest plane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes 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 small injuries, and Delta has actually provided each individual a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.
And the aircraft carnage is ongoing - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking area of a rural Pennsylvania retirement home.
Dramatic video showed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to hospital.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and close-by vehicles.
The aircraft took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.
American Airlines
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