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Federal investigators have raised issues of a capacity for another lethal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for 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 aircrafts.

As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, detectives raised issues of more accidents involving helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We remain worried about the significant capacity for future mid-air crash at DCA.'

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

When police, medical or presidential transportation helicopters need to utilize the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the exact same location.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a 'permanent option' for detours for helicopters when 2 of the airport's runways are in use.

Emergency systems react after a passenger 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 speaks with press reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was alerting check in the lead up to the fatal disaster.

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

It was revealed that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of airplanes getting notifies about helicopters being in close distance in between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where 2 aircraft where laterally divided 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 utilized that details any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn't happen, which is why we're acting today. But sadly, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy stated: 'I believe the concern is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to say "hi, this is a location, we are having near misses out on and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives".'

He added: 'That wasn't done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides security.'

Duffy would later on added when questioned by a press reporter about the near misses that the data had 'p *** ed him off'.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen being 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 associated with the crash may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The crash most likely happened at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down 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 suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough investigation.

'We will continue to collaborate carefully with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative celebration member.'

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated 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 going through a yearly test and a test on using night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

Investigators believe the crew was using night vision goggles throughout the flight.

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the congested 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 plane traffic.

Those jobs are typically handled in between two people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those jobs are typically dealt with between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video drawn from inside the airport captured the moment the 2 collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the tasks are normally combined and left to someone as the sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor reportedly chose to combine those duties before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report said that staffing configuration 'was not typical for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for lots of years, with simply 19 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 - well listed below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The scenario appeared to have actually improved because 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 absolutely nothing new, with well-known causes including high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are regularly 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 said: 'This NTSB action is extremely unusual. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB examination is rare.'

The two aircraft had actually collided in a huge fireball that showed up 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 traveler plane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for several minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.

The plane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 guests and four crew members on board.

Some 21 individuals were taken to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has provided everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in compensation.

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

Dramatic video footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to medical facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation lorries hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and neighboring automobiles.

The aircraft took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had opened.

American Airlines