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Crash Warning as Report into DC Disaster at Reagan Airport Is Released > 자유게시판
Crash Warning as Report into DC Disaster at Reagan Airport Is Released
작성일작성일: 2025-05-02 21:02Federal investigators have actually raised concerns of a potential for another fatal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash earlier this year killed 67.
The National Transportation Safety Board offered an update on their investigation into the reason for the disaster which occurred on January 29 in Washington.
An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everyone on board both airplanes.
As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, investigators raised issues of more collisions involving helicopters at the airport.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We remain worried about the substantial potential for future mid-air crash at DCA.'
Her concerns focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to restrict helicopter traffic around the location, but that is set to stop at the end of the month.
When authorities, medical or governmental transport helicopters must use the area civilian airplanes are stopped from being in the exact same location.
Homendy stated the NTSB is now advising that the FAA discover a 'permanent service' for detours for helicopters when two of the airport's runways are in usage.
Emergency systems respond after a traveler 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 talks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air collision
It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was cautioning indications 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 uncovered that 15,214 'near-miss events' of planes getting signals about helicopters remaining in close proximity in between October 2021 and December 2024.
The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where two aircraft where laterally divided 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 used that details any time to identify 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 taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy slammed these findings at a later press conference on Tuesday.
Duffy stated: 'I think the question is when this data can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say "hi, this is a hot spot, we are having near misses out on and if we don't change our methods we are gon na lose lives".'
He added: 'That wasn't done, maybe there was a focus on something besides security.'
Duffy would later on added when questioned by a reporter about the near misses that the data had 'p *** ed him off'.
Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 people
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Investigators believe that the helicopter associated with the crash may have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.
The crash likely occurred at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the airplane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limitation for that area.
On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, stating: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's immediate security recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough examination.
'We will continue to collaborate carefully with PSA Airlines as it cooperates as an investigative party member.'
The helicopter pilots may have likewise missed part of another interaction, when the tower said the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy said 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 said.
Investigators believe the team was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.
The Army has stated the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced, and accustomed to the congested skies around the country ´ s capital.
At the time of the accident, a single air traffic controller was at the same time keeping an eye on both the helicopter and plane traffic.
Those tasks are usually managed between two people from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.
Those jobs are generally managed between two people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.
Surveillance footage taken from inside the airport recorded the minute the 2 clashed in midair
At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here
After 9:30 pm the duties are usually combined and delegated one individual as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.
A supervisor apparently decided to integrate those responsibilities before the arranged cutoff time however, and enabled one air traffic controller to leave work early.
The FAA report stated that staffing setup 'was not regular for the time of day and volume of traffic'.
Reagan National has been understaffed for lots of years, with just 19 totally licensed controllers since September 2023 - well listed below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.
The scenario appeared to have actually enhanced 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 service towers is nothing brand-new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and cuts.
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In order to fill the spaces, 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 deemed the findings as 'unusual'.
She stated: 'This NTSB action is extremely uncommon. The release of an emergency situation recommendation requesting the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is unusual.'
The two aircraft had collided in a substantial fireball that showed up on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.
Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta guest plane crashed-landed upside down in chaotic scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.
Miraculously, everybody on board survived after being suspended upside-down by their seatbelts for a number of minutes up until they tentatively started leaving.
The plane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 guests and four crew members on board.
Some 21 individuals were taken to the healthcare facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has offered each individual a no-strings $30,000 payout in payment.
And the aircraft carnage is ongoing - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking area of a rural Pennsylvania retirement community.
Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to hospital.
Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation vehicles hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the plane and close-by cars.
The aircraft took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, however quickly asked for to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.
American Airlines