Federal investigators have actually raised concerns of a potential for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an upgrade on their examination into the cause of the catastrophe 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, eliminating everybody on board both aircrafts.

As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, private investigators raised concerns of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: 'We remain concerned about the considerable capacity for future mid-air accident at DCA.'

Her concerns focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to limit helicopter traffic around the area, however that is set to cease at the end of the month.

When cops, medical or presidential transport helicopters need to use the area civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now advising that the FAA find a 'permanent option' for alternate paths for helicopters when 2 of the airport's runways are in use.

Emergency units respond after a guest aircraft 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 collision

It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning check in the lead up to the lethal disaster.

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

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

The NTSB also stated that there were 85 cases where 2 airplane where laterally divided by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy added: 'That data from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that info at any time to determine that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn't take place, which is why we're doing something about it today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.

Duffy said: 'I believe the question is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the information to state "hello, this is a hot area, we are having near misses and if we don't alter our ways we are gon na lose lives".'

He added: 'That wasn't done, maybe there was a concentrate on something aside from security.'

Duffy would later included when questioned by a 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, killing 67 people

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

The accident likely occurred at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the airplane descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that place.

On Tuesday American Airlines invited the report by the NTSB, saying: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's urgent safety suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive investigation.

'We will continue to coordinate carefully with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.'

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said the jet was turning towards 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 using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators think the crew 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 nation ´ s capital.

At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and aircraft traffic.

Those jobs are generally handled between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those jobs are usually dealt with in between 2 individuals from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport recorded the minute the 2 collided in midair

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

After 9:30 pm the responsibilities are generally combined and someone as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A supervisor apparently decided to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report stated that staffing setup 'was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023 - well below the target of 30 - according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan sent to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually improved since then, 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, 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 'unusual'.

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

The 2 aircraft had 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, on February 17, a Delta passenger plane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes until they tentatively began leaving.

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

Some 21 people were taken to the healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered each individual a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

And the airplane carnage is ongoing - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a rural Pennsylvania retirement community.

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation lorries hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the plane and nearby automobiles.

The plane took off as arranged on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.

American Airlines