NTSB calls for ban on some helicopter routes near Reagan Airport after midair collision that killed 67 people

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) connected Tuesday recommended the closure of a chopper way adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport erstwhile immoderate of its runways are successful usage pursuing January's midair collision that killed dozens of radical erstwhile a level collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. 

NTSB Board Chair Jennifer Homendy called the determination of chopper Route 4 and the last attack way to DCA runway 33 "an intolerable hazard to aviation information by expanding the accidental of a midair collision."

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NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy gives an update Tuesday connected the probe into the deadly midair D.C. level clang that occurred connected Jan. 29, 2025, implicit the Potomac River. (Fox News/Pool)

Homendy said that presently helicopters and planes tin beryllium arsenic adjacent arsenic 75 feet isolated during landing. Between October 2021 and December 2024, 15,214 instances of planes getting alerts astir helicopters successful adjacent proximity were identified, investigators said.

On Jan. 29, American Airlines Flight 5342, carrying 60 passengers and 4 unit members, was approaching Reagan Airport from Wichita, Kansas, arsenic an Army Black Hawk chopper with 3 soldiers connected committee was practicing exigency evacuation routes. The craft collided implicit the Potomac River, sidesplitting everyone connected board.

In its recommendations, the NTSB said it identified risks of midair collisions betwixt helicopters and airplane postulation utilizing runways 15 and 33 astatine the airport. 

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Wreckage is seen successful the Potomac River adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport connected Jan. 30, 2025. The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended the closure of a chopper way adjacent the airdrome erstwhile 1 of its runways is successful use. (Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

The bureau recommended that chopper operations beryllium prohibited connected Route 4 betwixt Hains Point and Wilson Bridge erstwhile runways 15 and 33 are successful usage and to designate an alternate chopper way erstwhile Route 4 is closed. 

The Black Hawk whitethorn person had inaccurate altitude readings successful the moments earlier the crash, investigators said.

The collision apt occurred astatine an altitude of astir 300 feet arsenic the level descended toward the helicopter, which was good supra its 200-foot bounds for that location, the Associated Press reported.

An FBI cause carries debris the time aft American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk chopper and crashed into the Potomac River connected the nighttime of Jan. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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The Army has said the Black Hawk unit was highly experienced and accustomed to the crowded skies astir the nation’s capital.