Key takeaways from NTSB’s preliminary report on deadly midair collision between DC plane and military helicopter
By Alexandra Skores, Pete Muntean, Aaron Cooper and Ray Sanchez, CNN
(CNN) — The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended that helicopter traffic be banned from a four-mile stretch over the Potomac River when flights are landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, hours later, agreed to adopt the recommendation and continue with flight restrictions put in place after a deadly midair collision in January, saying the nation was “threading the needle” in allowing helicopters to fly down the same airspace as landing aircraft.
The “urgent safety recommendation” is part of the NTSB’s preliminary report on the midair collision between a passenger jet and a US Army helicopter in which 67 people were killed in the deadliest crash in the US in nearly two decades.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, at a briefing Tuesday, said the setup at the airport poses an “intolerable risk” to safety.
Duffy, after the crash, restricted helicopter traffic around the airport and over the Potomac River until the end of March.
“We are going to continue with our restrictions,” he said Tuesday.
Currently, planes at the airport are stopped for necessary helicopter flights – such as when President Donald Trump leaves the White House on Marine One – which has led to flight delays and diversions.
“We remain concerned about the significant potential for a future midair collision,” Homendy said Tuesday, noting the restriction was to be lifted in about two weeks.
The collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and the Army Black Hawk helicopter occurred on January 29 under clear skies over some of the country’s busiest and most tightly controlled airspace.
The passenger jet was moments away from touching down when it was struck on the right side by the military helicopter at an altitude of roughly 300 feet, investigators said. The helicopter was on a training mission.
A preliminary analysis of the flight data and voice recorder on board the Black Hawk indicated its altimeter may have been inaccurate and the pilots may not have heard some calls from the Reagan National Airport control tower, NTSB officials said last month.
Tuesday’s report did not identify the probable cause of the crash – which is expected to take more than a year.
Fatalities included American Airlines pilots Jonathan Campos and Samuel Lilley, two flight attendants and several members of the US figure skating community, according to friends, family and sports groups.
American Airlines, in a statement, said it continues to mourn the victims and thanked the NTSB for the “urgent safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic” near the Washington-area airport.
Here are some key takeaways from the NTSB’s preliminary report:
Copter routes near airport pose safety risk
The helicopter route the Black Hawk was following when it collided with the regional jet should be closed under certain conditions, according to the new recommendation from the NTSB.
“Urgent recommendations require immediate action to prevent similar accidents or incidents when we issue them,” Homendy told reporters. “We believe a critical safety issue must be addressed without delay.”
Specifically, the recommendation states: “Prohibit operations on helicopter Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals, respectively, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”
It also calls for the designation of “an alternative helicopter route that can be used to facilitate travel between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when that segment of Route 4 is closed.”
Homendy said she was angry and devastated for the families who lost loved ones, adding that it “shouldn’t take a tragedy to require immediate action” when there were clear indicators of safety concerns.
Duffy agreed, telling reporters during a separate news conference the “data was there” but “it wasn’t effectively analyzed to see that we had this kind of risk” at the DC-area airport.
“It makes me angry. Maybe there was too much data coming in, and it’s easy maybe to look back and say you should have seen it,” he said.
Warning signs were missed
The warning signs leading up to the disaster over the Potomac River were there, NTSB investigators said, citing data detailing thousands of near collisions at the airport over a number of years.
“I think the question is, when this data comes in, how did the FAA not know? How do they not study the data to say, ‘Hey, this is a hot spot. We’re having near misses, and if we don’t change our way, we’re going to lose lives.’ That wasn’t done,” Duffy told reporters Tuesday.
Investigators uncovered 15,214 “near miss events” between 2021 and 2024 where aircraft were within one nautical mile of colliding, with a vertical separation of less than 400 feet. Additionally, there were also 85 cases where two aircraft were separated by less than 1,500 feet, with a vertical separation of less than 200 feet, according to the NTSB.
Homendy said the FAA “could have used that information any time to determine that we have a trend here and a problem here, and looked at that route; that didn’t occur.”
Currently, helicopters and planes can be as close as 75 feet apart during landing but Homendy said that distance is “insufficient” and unsafe.
She said, “Unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving.”
Homendy sought to reassure the public that “aviation is incredibly safe” but noted there are safety issues that need attention.
Duffy on Tuesday vowed to seek congressional funding to begin work on a new air traffic control system that he said will be the envy of the world. He called the current system “antiquated” – relying on decades-old technology – but safe. The proposed changes will transform air traffic control from a system reliant on copper wires to one built from fiber, wireless and satellite technology.
Military pilots may not have heard control tower
The preliminary report also includes more details about an analysis of the flight data and voice recorder recovered from the helicopter. Investigators found the pilots may not have heard some calls from the control tower.
The Army helicopter crew may not have realized they were flying higher than they were supposed to when the aircraft collided with the American Airlines regional jet, data suggests.
The report said a portion of the tower radio transmission stating that the jet was “circling” may not have been received by the helicopter crew.
One controller worked two positions
One controller, investigators said, was working two positions in the tower the night of the collision. While that is allowed in certain circumstances, the preliminary report shows they started handling both positions at 3:30 p.m., and the accident occurred more than five hours later at approximately 8:50 p.m.
Homendy dodged a question from reporters about whether the collision could have been prevented with more staffing.
“That is part of our investigation and is part of the analysis phase of our investigation,” she said. “Right now, we are collecting facts on air traffic control. In our preliminary report today, we will mention that there were five controllers on position.”
There were nine controllers total in the tower, with some in the break room, she said.
“We are taking a look at that. We do not have any evidence that anybody left. In fact, the controller came back into rotation around 4:27 p.m.,” Homendy said of the lone controller on two positions, adding that two other positions were also combined for the entire day – “which is not abnormal.”
The preliminary report also outlines that the American Airlines flight was communicating with the control tower on one frequency, and the helicopter pilots were using another. Because of this, the crews of each flight “were not able to hear each other’s transmissions to the controller, but the controller’s transmissions to each aircraft would be audible to both flight crews,” the report said.
NTSB makes recommendations but cannot enforce them
It’s up to the Federal Aviation Administration to turn NTSB’s recommendation into action. The FAA has barred helicopters from the area since the days after the accident, with a temporary restriction over six square miles near Reagan National Airport.
The NTSB makes safety recommendations stemming from its investigations. These alerts are released to the government, industry and the public. They identify critical changes the board believes need to be made regarding transportation safety.
Since the agency was established in 1967, more than 15,500 recommendations have been issued. Aviation accounts for most of those recommendations at 38%, according to NTSB data.
Right now, there are at least 276 open NTSB aviation recommendations, and more than 1,000 that are closed by the board but listed as having “unacceptable action” taken.
The NTSB, as an independent investigator, can make recommendations but cannot enforce them. Changes must be made by the FAA, airlines, airports or other parties involved.
For instance, the NTSB has recommended since 2013 that flight data and cockpit voice recorders on most planes be retrofitted with a “crash-resistant flight recorder system” to record “cockpit audio and images with a view of the cockpit environment,” including “as much of the outside view as possible.” The recommendation has been reiterated seven times by the NTSB since then, with the board in 2023 expressing concern that no progress had been made on the issue more than a decade later.
Another recommendation, in 2021, called for a requirement that firms that design, manufacture and maintain aircraft establish a safety management system. A year later, the FAA responded that it was reviewing the recommendation but the NTSB, in 2024, classified the response as “unacceptable.”
CNN’s Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond and Maureen Chowdhury contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
