The FAA criticized the crash for failing to recognize the pattern with 85 close calls reported around the airport in the three years of crash fall.
The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Congress on Thursday that he “has” when identifying the safety threat that claimed 67 lives in identifying the safety threat following a fatal air collision in Washington, D.C.
During a hearing before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee, Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said that an artificial intelligence-led review of the airport with similar helicopter airplane crowds is expected to be completed within weeks.
“We need to identify trends. We need to be smarter about how we use our data. We have to do them when implementing corrective actions,” Rochero said at the hearing.
85 Closed
Chairman Jennifer Homendy, Chairman Jennifer Homendy, criticized the FAA for failing to recognize the pattern in 85 close calls reported around the Ronald Reagan Washington National in the three years before the crash.
Rochero admitted that while each case was being investigated, the agency missed out on a surprising trend.
In an immediate policy change announced during the hearing, Rochero said the FAA would require that all aircraft flying near Reagan National broadcast the location. This “ADS-B Out Data” provides air traffic controllers with position updates per second.
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The hearing revealed that Army helicopters still flew across the country’s capital and were turned off when the location broadcasting system was considered a sensitive mission. Brig. General Matthew Braman, the Army Air Chief, confirmed the practice was ongoing Thursday morning.
In response, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said it was “shocking and deeply unacceptable” that the Army continues to do so.
During the hearing, Homendy said it was also important to ensure that the power transmission equipment is still functional as the helicopter involved in the accident had not sent location data for 730 days. Eight people have not been sent since 2023 when the NTSB checked other helicopters in the same unit after the crash.
The NTSB also reported that the staffing of the air traffic control tower was “unnormal” at the time of the collision, and that communication was lost between the air traffic control and the aircraft.
Daily Crofton, brother of Casey Crofton, who died in the crash, attended a hearing Thursday and said he was surprised by the “errorization of safety protocols that led to this crash.” Casey Crafton’s family filed a $250 million claim against both the FAA and the Army for the February 18 crash.
Tim Lilly, father of American Airlines co-pilot Sam Lilly, who died in the crash, said he was disappointed that the Army had not implemented the simple safety improvements he recommended, including consistent use of the locator system.
“I was dissatisfied with the lack of accountability. The military still doesn’t want to say they did something wrong,” Lily said at the hearing.
The FAA’s AI-driven review examines areas with busy helicopter traffic along the Boston, New York, Baltimore Washington, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and the Gulf Coast.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
