‘There’s a serious safety issue’, investigators say following DCA mid-air collision
The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board says “there’s a serious safety issue” in the airspace surrounding Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy called on the Federal Aviation Administration to implement several urgent safety recommendations during a Tuesday news conference. Her comments followed the release of a preliminary investigation into the January 29 mid-air collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet, which was attempting to land at DCA airport. Both aircraft plunged into the icy Potomac River, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
Homendy described the flight patterns around DCA as “an intolerable risk” as helicopters and commercial planes operate in close proximity to each other in the busy airspace over the nation’s capital. She says an NTSB analysis found that in a 13-year period from 2011 to 2024 there was at least one “close call” each month between a commercial plane operating at DCA and a helicopter.
In over half of those encounters, Homendy said, the helicopter was operating higher than it should have been and two-thirds of the instances were at night.
The January crash happened at night and the collision occurred at 278 feet. The helicopter was supposed to be flying no higher than 200 feet. The NTSB said previously it’s unclear whether the altimeters in the helicopter were showing the pilots the proper altitude.
The new NTSB analysis further determined that between October 2021 and December 2024, there were a total of 944,179 commercial operations at DCA. During that time, there were 15,214 “close proximity events” between commercial airplanes and helicopters. Of those, 85 had a horizontal separation of 1,500 feet and were less than 200 feet apart vertically.
“The NTSB report provides ample data that this helicopter route and the commercial aviation landing route never should have been allowed to co-exist,” said Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). “The data also raises serious questions as to how such a route was allowed to continue when alarm bells were literally going off.”
Homendy called on the FAA to make several “urgent safety recommendations.” She said the FAA needs to “permanently prohibit helicopter operations” near DCA when certain runways are in use for arrivals or departures. She applauded U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy who put these restrictions in place temporarily after the crash until March 31.
Homendy says the NTSB is also examining other factors including what the pilots of each aircraft might have seen or heard in the minutes before the accident. They’ll also investigate the possible role of air traffic controllers.
The FAA has been under scrutiny for a years-long shortage of air traffic controllers. In the last month, the Trump administration began laying off hundreds of FAA employees as part of a federal effort to cut back on workers. Secretary Duffy said none of the layoffs were existing controllers or “critical safety personnel.” Still, Elon Musk of the Department of Government Efficiency pleaded last month with air traffic controllers who have recently retired to return to work.
The mid-air collision was the deadliest aviation accident in the U.S. since 2001. The full NTSB investigation is expected to take about a year.
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