New details about moments leading up to mid-air collision that killed 67 revealed at DC plane crash hearing
The air traffic controller who was managing aircraft around Reagan National Airport felt a “little overwhelmed” before an American Airlines jet collided with an Army helicopter mid-air, killing 67 people last year, an investigator said Tuesday.
New details about the moments leading up the crash were revealed at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing to determine the biggest factors in the crash.
Some key themes emerged: The jet’s pilot was not alerted about the helicopter; airspace in the nation’s capital was crowded the night of Jan. 29, 2025; and warnings for years to reroute helicopter traffic were ignored.
NTSB members seemed deeply troubled over missed opportunities and worried that additional disasters may occur if the government doesn’t act on the investigation findings.
“Are we going to sit here five years from now and say the data was there five years ago?” Todd Inman said, referring to staffing and training challenges at the airport.
“We know people were raising the concerns, people were saying this was dangerous five, 10 years ago, and nobody was really listening.”
Before hearing from investigators, Inman said “systemic issues across multiple organizations,” not an error by any individual, caused the tragedy.
Everyone aboard the jet, flying from Wichita, Kansas, and the Black Hawk helicopter died when the two aircraft collided and plummeted into the icy Potomac River. It was the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil since 2001, and the victims included 28 members of the figure skating community.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week made a permanent change to ensure helicopters and planes no longer share the same airspace around the airport. The NTSB will recommend additional action, and families of the victims say they hope there’s meaningful change.
NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said she couldn’t believe the FAA didn’t realize the helicopter route in use during the crash didn’t provide adequate separation from planes landing on Reagan’s secondary runway.
She noted that the FAA had refused to add detailed information about helicopter routes to pilots’ charts so they could better understand the risks.
“We know over time concerns were raised repeatedly, went unheard, squashed — however you want to put it — stuck in red tape and bureaucracy of a very large organization,” Homendy said. “Repeated recommendations over the years.”
NTSB investigator Katherine Wilson said an air traffic controller felt a “little overwhelmed” when traffic volume increased to 10 aircraft about 10 to 15 minutes before the collision, but then “felt the volume was manageable when one or two helicopters left the airspace.”
Yet about 90 seconds before the collision, Wilson said, “traffic volume increased to a maximum of 12 aircraft consisting of seven airplanes and five helicopters. Radio communication showed that the local controller was shifting focus between airborne, ground and transiting aircraft.”
