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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered 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, eliminating everybody on board both airplanes.

As part of a preliminary report launched on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: 'We stay worried about the substantial potential for future mid-air collision at DCA.'

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

When cops, medical or presidential transportation helicopters need to use the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the exact same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now advising that the FAA discover a 'long-term service' for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport's runways remain in use.

Emergency systems respond after a traveler aircraft clashed 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 crash

It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was warning check in the lead up to the deadly disaster.

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 aircrafts getting notifies about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.

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

Homendy added: 'That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have used that information whenever to identify that we have a pattern here and a problem here, and took a look at that route; that didn't happen, which is why we're doing something about it today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy said: 'I think the question is when this information comes in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say "hello, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses and if we do not change our ways we are gon na lose lives".'

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

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

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 individuals

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Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident likely happened at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the airplane came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.

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 limit helicopter traffic near DCA and for its extensive investigation.

'We will continue to collaborate closely with PSA Airlines as it works together as an investigative party member.'

The helicopter pilots might have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy stated last month.

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

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

The Army has stated 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 monitoring both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those tasks are typically managed 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 between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

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

After 9:30 pm the duties are usually combined and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A manager supposedly decided to integrate those duties before the scheduled cutoff time however, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

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

Reagan National has been understaffed for several years, with simply 19 totally accredited 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 scenario appeared to have actually improved 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 towers is absolutely nothing new, with widely known causes including high turnover and budget plan cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, 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 situation suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the conclusion of the NTSB investigation is uncommon.'

The two airplane had actually clashed in a big fireball that was noticeable on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

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

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for several minutes until they tentatively began evacuating.

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

Some 21 individuals were taken to the health center for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payment in settlement.

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

Dramatic video revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt 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 neighboring automobiles.

The airplane took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, however rapidly asked for to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had actually opened.

American Airlines