Federal private investigators have raised concerns of a capacity for another lethal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash earlier this year eliminated 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board provided an upgrade on their investigation into the cause of the disaster 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 everybody on board both airplanes.

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

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We stay concerned about the significant capacity for future mid-air collision at DCA.'

Her concerns focus on Transport Secretary Sean Duffy moving to limit helicopter traffic around the location, however that is set to stop at the end of the month.

When police, medical or governmental transportation helicopters must utilize the space civilian planes are stopped from being in the very same location.

Homendy said the NTSB is now recommending that the FAA discover a 'permanent solution' for alternate paths for helicopters when 2 of the airport's runways are in usage.

Emergency systems react after a traveler airplane hit 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 crash

It was also revealed on Tuesday that there was alerting 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 discovered that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of aircrafts getting notifies about helicopters remaining in close distance between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB also said that there were 85 cases where 2 airplane where laterally split 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) could have utilized that details at any time to figure out that we have a pattern here and an issue here, and took a look at that route; that didn't happen, which is why we're acting today. But unfortunately, individuals lost lives, and enjoyed ones are grieving.'

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

Duffy stated: 'I think the question is when this information can be found in how did the FAA not understand. How did they not study the information to say "hey, this is a location, we are having near misses 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 aside from security.'

Duffy would later included when questioned by a press reporter about the near misses out on that the information had 'p *** ed him off'.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, killing 67 people

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Investigators think that the helicopter involved in the crash may have had incorrect altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The accident likely happened at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the plane came down toward the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that location.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, stating: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's immediate safety recommendations to limit near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

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

The helicopter pilots might have likewise missed out on part of another interaction, when the tower stated 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 a yearly test and a test on utilizing night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators think the team was using night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

The Army has stated the Black Hawk team 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 concurrently keeping track of both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those jobs are normally handled between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New York Times.

Those tasks are typically handled in between 2 people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to the report.

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

At the time of the crash, a single air traffic controller was all at once keeping an eye on both the helicopter and aircraft traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the tasks are usually integrated and left to a single person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

A manager supposedly decided to combine those responsibilities before the arranged cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report stated that staffing configuration 'was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

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

The circumstance appeared to have 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 widely known causes including high turnover and budget cuts.

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

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

She said: 'This NTSB action is highly uncommon. The release of an emergency recommendation requesting the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is rare.'

The two airplane had actually collided in a substantial fireball that showed up on dashcams of automobiles driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta guest airplane crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everyone on board made it through after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for a number of minutes until they tentatively started evacuating.

The airplane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 guests and four team members on board.

Some 21 individuals were required to the medical facility for treatment to minor injuries, and Delta has actually offered everyone a no-strings $30,000 payout in settlement.

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

Dramatic footage revealed the Beechcraft A36TC erupt in flames in the parking lot of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five individuals were hurried to medical facility.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency situation cars rushed to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the airplane and nearby cars.

The plane took off as set up on Sunday afternoon, but rapidly requested to land back on the tarmac due to the fact that its door had opened.

American Airlines