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

The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their examination into the cause of the catastrophe which occurred 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 released on Tuesday, private investigators raised issues of more crashes including helicopters at the airport.

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

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

When authorities, medical or presidential transportation helicopters should use the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the very same area.

Homendy stated the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a 'permanent option' for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport's runways remain in use.

Emergency systems react after a traveler aircraft hit 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 with press reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision

It was likewise exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting check in the lead up to the lethal catastrophe.

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

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

The NTSB also said that there were 85 cases where two airplane 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 utilized that info whenever to figure out that we have a trend here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn't occur, which is why we're acting today. But regrettably, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy said: 'I think the question is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the data to state "hey, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we don't alter our ways we are gon na lose lives".'

He included: 'That wasn't done, possibly there was a focus on something besides 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 sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people

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

The collision likely took place at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft descended towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that place.

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

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

Investigators believe the team was using night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

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

Those tasks are usually handled between two individuals from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

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

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

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

After 9:30 pm the tasks are typically combined and delegated one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager reportedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the set up cutoff time nevertheless, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report said 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 licensed controllers since September 2023 - well below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The circumstance appeared to have actually improved ever since, 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 absolutely nothing new, with popular causes consisting of 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 deemed the findings as 'unusual'.

She stated: 'This NTSB action is extremely uncommon. The release of an emergency recommendation requesting the FAA take instant action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is uncommon.'

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

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

Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for several minutes till they tentatively started evacuating.

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 healthcare facility for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has provided each individual a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

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

Medics, ambulances, and emergency vehicles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the plane and neighboring automobiles.

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

American Airlines