Aviation Expert 'Wasn’t Shocked’ by D.C. Plane Crash After ‘Too Many Close Calls’ at Airports (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Wreckage from the American Airlines mid-air crash in January 2025.Photo:Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty

Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/ U.S. Coast Guard via Getty

An aviation expert is weighing in on the string of recent incidents involving aircraft near-misses and collisions — and why he believed a mid-air crash was bound to happen.

Anthony Brickhouse is a U.S.-based aviation expert and a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who has been in the safety and accident investigation industry for the last 28 years. With “several investigations under my belt,” Brickhouse tells PEOPLE that the news of theAmerican Airlines crash— in which a passenger jet collided with a Black Hawk Army Helicopter in January — did not come as a surprise to him.

“I was saddened, but I wasn’t shocked,” he notes, adding that he’s been predicting a major accident would likely happen “in the airport environment” soon.

The tragic crash led to the deaths of three soldiers who were aboard the helicopter, as well as all 60 passengers and four crew members on the commercial flight. The aircraft was making its descent into Washington, D.C.’s Reagan International Airport when it collided with the helicopter and burst into flames before falling into the Potomac River.

“We’ve had too many close calls over the past two or three years, most recently at Chicago Midway with the Southwest jet and the business jet,” Brickhouse continues, referring to thepassenger plane that had to suddenly pull up and perform a go-aroundin order to avoid a crash with a private jet in February.

Southwest plane nearly collides with private jet at Chicago Midway Airport.STREAMTIME LIVE

STREAMTIME LIVE

The investigation detailed the increase in close calls between aircrafts, both in the air and on the tarmac, as well as why the public often doesn’t hear about them when they happen. It also revealed that this alarming rise of aircrafts almost coming into contact with one another has involved nearly every airport and major airline across the country.

These near-catastrophes, which reportedly happen multiple times a week, are in part a result of a staffing shortage of air traffic controllers as well as a lack of warning systems at airports, according to the investigation.

Wreckage of the American Airlines crash in January 2025.Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Despite this alarming rise in close calls, Brickhouse tells PEOPLE that flying is still the safest way to travel.

“Aviation still, in spite of these recent accidents, it’s still the safest mode of transportation,” he says. “If you look at the statistics, once you drive to the airport, park your car and hop on that aircraft, literally the most treacherous part of that trip is over, statistically speaking. And the numbers definitely bear that out.”

However, his advice for travelers is to always be “conscientious flyers” and “plug into their personal safety” when flying.

“One of the most important things is to listen to the flight attendants. If you look around, nobody’s listening to the flight attendants. Something that they could say could save your life in an emergency situation.”

Brickhouse uses the recent Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 crash landing in Toronto as an example of how following safety procedures can help passengers survive in an emergency.

“We had this tragic crash in Toronto where we fortunately had no fatalities, and that is a testament to the job that the flight attendants did and also that the passengers did in following their instructions," he says. “I mean, just to think, at one moment everything’s fine, and the next thing you know you’re upside down hanging from your seatbelts.”

Delta crash landing in Toronto.EDUARDO LIMA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

EDUARDO LIMA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Sara Nelson, president of theAssociation of Flight Attendants-CWA, agrees. She previously told PEOPLE thatseatbelts were “key” to all 76 passengers and four crew members surviving the Delta crashafter the plane flipped upside down.

Brickhouse adds that every accident is a lesson for the aviation industry to learn from, so hopefully a similar incident never occurs again.

“Accidents do happen. Risk is never zero,” says Brickhouse. “When an accident does happen, it’s important to investigate, figure out exactly what happened and then make necessary changes.”

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Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who piloted theMiracle on the Hudson flightin 2009, made a similar statement while speaking to theNew York Timesafter the American Airlines collision.

“We’ve had to learn important lessons literally with blood too often, and we had finally gotten beyond that, to where we could learn from incidents, and not accidents,” he said.

source: people.com