Associated Press, by Josh Funk
Someone discovered a surprising number of nearby mistakes in the country’s capital sky before a fatal air collision that killed 67 people in January, and could now prevent future crashes, according to the head of the agency investigating the crash.
Jennifer Homendi, chairman of the National Road Safety Board, stressed in Congress Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration had data dating back to 2011, indicating that a crash alarm was sounding in the cockpit at least once a month as the plane arrived at the helicopter. But the FAA did not act, she said.
“All this data is collected by the FAA from operators, others, from voluntary reporting systems. Where does that data cause potential future accidents and incidents?” Homedy said during a hearing on the agency’s budget. “The next accident is currently in the data. And what are you doing to understand what it is?”
The Senate on Thursday delves deeper into what the NTSB has discovered so far, digging even deeper into the air-collision between the American Airlines passenger jet and the Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., Ronald Reagan National Airport. Homedy and the leaders of the FAA and Army aviation department will all testify.
Both Homedy and Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier this month that the NTSB first revealed shocking statistics that the FAA failed to recognize the danger prior to this crash after 85 years of mistakes in the last three years in which the aircraft flew within hundreds of feet (meters).
The FAA promptly began reviewing all data after the NTSB briefing, sought to identify similar safety threats, particularly in eight cities with high helicopter traffic. The FAA said on Wednesday that the analysis will continue.
Its review focuses on AI and machine learning support – heavy helicopter traffic off the airports and off the Gulf Coast at Boston, New York, Baltimore-Washington, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles. The FAA has not said whether they have found anything yet, but the agency has promised that there is a “remedial action plan for the identified risks.”
In the meantime, the FAA quickly adopted the NTSB recommendation to permanently close certain helicopter routes near Reagan whenever a plane took off or landed on runway 33 at the airport, where the jet liner was approaching in January when the collision occurred. If the helicopter needs to use that route for emergency reasons, the plane will not be allowed to take off or land. This should ensure that planes and helicopters will no longer share the same airspace near the airport, officials said.
“The FAA will continue to closely support NTSB-led investigations and take action as necessary to ensure public safety,” the agency said in a statement.
Homedy declined Wednesday to address President Donald Trump’s comments shortly after the crash suggesting that diversity and inclusion policies at the FAA may have contributed to it as the NTSB investigation was not completed. A final report identifying the cause has not been predicted for more than a year. Trump also denounced helicopters for flying too high, and later suggested that “outdated” air traffic control systems were a problem.
New Jersey Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman said it is important to refute these diversity comments as nothing has been found to support them so far.
“On the contrary, loyalty and Shikofan seem to be in the order of the day, and the fact that this federal government is doing its job is definitely having a negative impact,” Watson Coleman said at the hearing.
Federal authorities have been raising concerns over the years about overtensive and understaffed air traffic control systems, particularly after a series of close calls at airports.
The NTSB previously said that the helicopter may have had inaccurate altitude measurements at the moment before the crash, and that the crew may not have heard important instructions from the air traffic controller. The helicopter was 278 feet (85 meters) at the time of the crash. This exceeded the 200 feet (61 meters) limit for the location.
The crash was the most fatal plane crash in the United States since 2001. The jet crashed into a New York City neighbourhood shortly after takeoff, killing all 260 people and five more on the ground.
Original issue: March 26, 2025, 3:08pm EDT
