Federal investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another deadly plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year killed 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board gave an update on their investigation into the cause of the disaster which happened on January 29 in Washington.
An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, killing everyone on board both aircrafts.
As part of a preliminary report released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more collisions involving helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: ‘We remain concerned about the significant potential for future mid-air collision at DCA.’
Her concerns revolve around 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 police, medical or presidential transportation helicopters must use the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the same area.
Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA find a ‘permanent solution’ for alternate routes for helicopters when two of the airport’s runways are in use.
Emergency units respond after a passenger 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 reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision
It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was warning signs in the lead up to the deadly disaster.
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 planes getting alerts about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB also said that there were 85 cases where two aircraft where laterally split 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) could have used that information any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t occur, which is why we’re taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.’
Investigators believe that the helicopter involved in the crash might have had inaccurate altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.
The collision likely occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the plane descended toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that location.
The helicopter pilots may have also missed part of another communication, when the tower said the jet was turning toward a different runway, Homendy said last month.
The helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy said.
Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.
The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation´s capital.
At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic.
Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9:30pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.
Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9:30pm, according to the report.
After 9:30pm the duties are typically combined and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.
A supervisor reportedly decided to combine 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 normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’.
