In Years Before Deadly D.C. Plane Crash, There Were Over 15K Close Encounters at Airport: NTSB

Mar. 15, 2025

Wreckage from D.C. plane crash.Photo:NTSB (2)

NTSB (2)

The National Transportation Safety Board has released their preliminary report into thedeadly January midair collisionbetween an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C.

The cause of theJan. 29 crashnear Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people, remains undetermined as the board continues its fact-finding mission.

But in the preliminary report,released on Tuesday, March 11, investigators shared that there had been thousands of close encounters at the airport in recent years. The “vast majority” of these were during landing — as happened in January.

According to the report, between October 2021 and December 2024, there were 15,214 reported instances of planes and helicopters being less than 400 feet apart.

In 85 of those, less than 200 feet separated the crafts, the report states.

What’s more, anti-collision alerts were triggered on planes near the airport at least monthly “due to proximity to a helicopter,” according to the report. Helicopters may have been flying too high in more than half of these cases and two thirds of them happened at night.

NTSB photo of damage to the plane’s fuselage.NTSB

NTSB

Asinvestigators previously shared, the NTSB’s report states there was a discrepancy in the helicopter’s cockpit voice recorder — or “black box” — as the crash unfolded.

The pilot indicated they were at 300 feet while the instructor pilot said they were at 400 feet.

“Neither pilot made a comment discussing an altitude discrepancy,” authorities said in the new report.

NTSB graphic shows the area of collision between an American Airlines plane and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29.NTSB

The crash occurred at an altitude just under 300 feet as the plane descended toward its assigned runway.

The helicopter was flying above the 200-foot limit for its assigned route.

While the Federal Aviation Administration began prohibiting helicopter flights around the D.C. airport in the wake of the collision, the NTSB has issued two “urgent safety recommendations” to the FAA concerning the helicopter routes near the busy airport.

NTSB investigatorssaid in a separate releasethat they are asking the FAA to prohibit helicopter operations near DCA when Runway 15 and Runway 33 are in use as well as to designate an alternative helicopter route.

The NTSB also noted that helicopters traveling through the Route 4 corridor may have had only 75 feet of vertical separation from an airplane that was landing at Runway 33.

“The lack of separation was insufficient and said vertical separation could potentially be even less than 75 feet depending on the helicopter’s lateral distance from the Potomac River shoreline or if an approaching airplane was below the designated visual glidepath to Runway 33,” the agency added.

The crash in January is thethird deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the U.S. since 2001.

Among the victimswere children and teenagers, young professionals, parents, coaches, agroup of friends, the flight crew andthree soldiers.

Additionally, around a dozen of the passengers on the flight were returning from an eliteice skating training camp in Wichita, Kan., which had just hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

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“I guarantee it was basically pilot error,” an active duty Army helicopter pilot who did not want to be identified, previouslytold PEOPLE.

source: people.com