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Federal investigators have raised concerns of a potential for another fatal aircraft crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair collision earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their investigation into the reason for 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, killing everyone on board both airplanes.

As part of an initial report launched on Tuesday, private investigators raised issues of more accidents involving helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy stated: 'We stay concerned about the substantial capacity for crash at DCA.'

Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy transferring to limit helicopter traffic around the area, however that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When police, medical or governmental transport helicopters should use the space civilian airplanes are stopped from remaining in the same location.

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

Emergency units respond after a passenger airplane 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 with reporters about the 29 January mid-air accident

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

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

It was discovered that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of aircrafts getting informs about helicopters remaining in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise said that there were 85 cases where 2 airplane where laterally divided 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 utilized 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 occur, which is why we're doing something about it today. But sadly, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy stated: 'I think the concern is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to state "hey, this is a location, we are having near misses and if we do not alter our methods we are gon na lose lives".'

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

Duffy would later included 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 might have had incorrect elevation readings in the minutes before the crash.

The crash likely took place at an altitude just under 300 feet, as the airplane descended towards 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 urgent security suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

'We will continue to coordinate carefully with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative celebration member.'

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

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

Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.

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

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was concurrently keeping an eye on both the helicopter and plane traffic.

Those jobs are usually handled in 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 usually managed between 2 people from 10am up until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage taken from inside the airport caught the minute the 2 collided in midair

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was all at once monitoring both the helicopter and plane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the duties are typically combined and delegated someone as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A supervisor supposedly decided to integrate those duties 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 typical for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

Reagan National has actually been understaffed for many years, with simply 19 completely licensed controllers as of September 2023 - well below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation 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 nothing new, with well-known causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the gaps, controllers are regularly asked to work 10-hour days, 6 days a week.

After the release of the report, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo deemed the findings as 'uncommon'.

She said: 'This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency situation suggestion requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is unusual.'

The two aircraft had actually clashed in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later on, on February 17, a Delta traveler aircraft crashed-landed upside down in chaotic 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 till they tentatively started leaving.

The plane had been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 passengers and 4 team members on board.

Some 21 people were taken to the health center for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has used each person a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

And the airplane carnage is continuous - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a suburban Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC appear in flames in the car park of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were hurried to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation automobiles rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames swallowed up the aircraft and close-by automobiles.

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

American Airlines