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

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

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an upgrade on their examination into the reason for the disaster which occurred on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both airplanes.

As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more collisions including helicopters at the airport.

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

Her issues focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to restrict helicopter traffic around the area, but that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or presidential transport helicopters need to use the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the very same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA find a 'irreversible option' for alternate paths for helicopters when two of the airport's runways remain in use.

Emergency systems 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

It was likewise revealed on Tuesday that there was cautioning signs in the lead up to the deadly catastrophe.

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

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

The NTSB likewise said that there were 85 cases where two aircraft where laterally divided 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 info any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that path; that didn't take place, which is why we're acting today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'

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

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

He added: 'That wasn't done, maybe there was a focus on something other than safety.'

Duffy would later included when questioned by a 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, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators believe that the helicopter associated with the crash might have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision most likely took place at an altitude simply 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 invited the report by the NTSB, saying: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's urgent security suggestions to limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough investigation.

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

The helicopter pilots may have also missed 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 an annual test and a test on utilizing night vision goggles, Homendy said.

Investigators think the team was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously keeping track of both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those tasks are typically dealt with in between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are generally handled in between 2 people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage taken from inside the airport caught the moment the two collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the tasks are normally combined and delegated a single person as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager apparently decided to combine those tasks before the arranged cutoff time nevertheless, 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 actually been understaffed for lots of years, with just 19 fully accredited controllers since September 2023 - well below the target of 30 - according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The situation appeared to have actually improved considering that 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 brand-new, with well-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, six days a week.

After the release of the report, previous Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as 'unusual'.

She stated: 'This NTSB action is highly uncommon. The release of an emergency recommendation asking for the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.'

The 2 airplane had collided in a huge fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later on, on February 17, a Delta traveler airplane 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 seatbelts for a number of minutes till they tentatively began leaving.

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

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

And the plane carnage is continuous - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a car park of a rural Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to medical facility.

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

The plane took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly requested to land back on the tarmac since its door had actually opened.

American Airlines