A quiet evening over Washington, D.C., turned into a national tragedy Wednesday night as a midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter sent both aircraft plunging into the frigid waters of the Potomac River. The deadly crash near Reagan National Airport claimed 67 lives—the worst such incident since 2001.
President Trump confirmed Thursday morning that there were no survivors aboard American Eagle Flight 5342, which was en route from Wichita, Kansas, with 60 passengers and four crew members. The Army Black Hawk, conducting routine operations in restricted airspace, also went down with its crew.
Recovery efforts were underway as authorities worked in harsh winter conditions to retrieve bodies from the wreckage. Now, troubling new details have emerged about the circumstances leading up to the disaster.
An internal report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reveals that staffing at the air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport was “not normal” on the night of the accident. The controller on duty was reportedly handling responsibilities typically divided between two people.
The lone controller was left to monitor multiple aircraft in one of the busiest—and most sensitive—airspaces in the nation. An internal preliminary safety report by the FAA, reviewed by The New York Times, revealed that staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was unusually low given the traffic volume and time of day.On Wednesday night, a single controller was tasked with managing helicopters and planes landing and taking off, roles typically handled by two separate controllers. This consolidation of responsibilities heightened the controllers’ workload and added complexity to their duties.
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