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

Federal detectives have raised concerns of a capacity for another lethal airplane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair accident previously this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their examination into the cause of the disaster which took place on January 29 in Washington.

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

As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, private investigators raised issues of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters should utilize the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the exact same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a 'irreversible option' for detours for helicopters when two of the airport's runways remain in use.

Emergency systems react after a guest 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 also revealed on Tuesday that there was alerting signs in the lead up to the lethal catastrophe.

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

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

The NTSB also 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) might have used that info at any time to identify 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 taking action 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 stated: 'I think the question is when this information is available in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say "hello, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we don't alter our methods we are gon na lose lives".'

He included: 'That wasn't done, maybe there was a concentrate on something other than security.'

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

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen being in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people

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Investigators believe that the helicopter included in the crash may have had unreliable altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The collision most likely occurred at an elevation simply under 300 feet, as the aircraft descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that location.

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, stating: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's immediate safety suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive 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 out on part of another communication, when the tower said the jet was turning towards a various runway, Homendy said last month.

The helicopter was on a 'check' flight that night where the pilot was undergoing a yearly test and a test on using night vision safety glasses, Homendy said.

Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was at the same time monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

Those tasks are typically dealt with 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 normally handled in between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video taken from inside the airport caught the moment the 2 clashed in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are usually integrated and delegated someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor apparently chose to integrate those responsibilities before the arranged cutoff time however, 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 been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 completely licensed controllers as of September 2023 - well listed below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The situation appeared to have 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 service towers is nothing brand-new, with popular causes including high turnover and budget cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, 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 considered the findings as 'unusual'.

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 unusual.'

The two airplane had collided in a huge fireball that showed up on dashcams of vehicles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta traveler airplane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for a number of minutes until they tentatively started evacuating.

The aircraft had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 guests and 4 crew members on board.

Some 21 individuals were required to the health center for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually used everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

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 video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to healthcare facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency lorries rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the airplane and nearby automobiles.

The aircraft took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.

American Airlines