Federal private investigators have actually raised concerns of a potential for another lethal plane crash at Reagan National Airport, after a midair crash previously this year killed 67.

The National Transportation Safety Board gave an upgrade on their examination into the reason for the disaster which happened on January 29 in Washington.

An American Airlines jetliner and a Black Hawk military helicopter collided in midair over the Potomac River, eliminating everybody on board both aircrafts.

As part of an initial report released on Tuesday, investigators raised concerns of more crashes involving helicopters at the airport.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said: 'We stay worried about the considerable capacity for future mid-air collision at DCA.'

Her issues revolve around Transport Secretary Sean Duffy relocating to limit helicopter traffic around the area, however that is set to cease at the end of the month.

When authorities, medical or governmental transportation helicopters need to use the space civilian aircrafts are stopped from being in the same area.

Homendy said the NTSB is now suggesting that the FAA discover a 'long-term solution' for alternate paths for helicopters when 2 of the airport's runways are in usage.

Emergency systems react after a passenger aircraft collided with a helicopter in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia

Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) Jennifer Homendy talks to reporters about the 29 January mid-air crash

It was also exposed on Tuesday that there was alerting signs in the lead up to the fatal disaster.

Those penetrating the crash went through 944,179 operations between October 2021 and December 2024.

It was revealed that 15,214 'near-miss occasions' of planes getting signals about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024.

The NTSB likewise stated that there were 85 cases where 2 aircraft where laterally split by less than 1,500 feet, and a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

Homendy added: 'That information from October 2021 through December 2024, (the FAA) might have utilized that info any time to identify that we have a trend here and an issue here, and looked at that route; that didn't occur, which is why we're doing something about it today. But sadly, people lost lives, and liked ones are grieving.'

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy knocked these findings at a later interview on Tuesday.

Duffy stated: 'I believe the question is when this information is available in how did the FAA not know. How did they not study the data to state "hi, this is a hot area, we are having near misses out on and if we do not alter our ways we are gon na lose lives".'

He included: 'That wasn't done, perhaps there was a focus on something besides security.'

Duffy would later on included when questioned by a reporter about the near misses out on that the data had 'p *** ed him off'.

Pictured: Parts of the wreckage seen sitting in the Potomac River after Flight 5342 clashed with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, eliminating 67 individuals

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Investigators think that the helicopter included in the crash might have had unreliable altitude readings in the minutes before the crash.

The crash likely occurred at an elevation just under 300 feet, as the aircraft came down towards the chopper, which was above its 200-foot limit for that place.

On Tuesday American Airlines welcomed the report by the NTSB, saying: 'We're grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's urgent safety suggestions to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its comprehensive examination.

'We will continue to collaborate closely with PSA Airlines as it complies as an investigative party member.'

The helicopter pilots might have also missed out on part of another communication, when the tower stated the jet was turning toward a various runway, Homendy stated last month.

The helicopter was on a 'check' flight that night where the pilot was going through an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles, Homendy stated.

Investigators believe the team was wearing night vision safety glasses throughout the flight.

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was extremely experienced, and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation ´ s capital.

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and airplane traffic.

Those tasks are usually managed between two people from 10am till 9:30 pm, according to an early FAA report seen by The New york city Times.

Those jobs are normally dealt with between 2 individuals from 10am until 9:30 pm, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage drawn from inside the airport recorded the minute the 2 clashed in midair

At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was simultaneously monitoring both the helicopter and airplane traffic. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen here

After 9:30 pm the tasks are generally integrated and delegated one individual as the airport sees less traffic later on in the night.

A supervisor supposedly chose to combine those responsibilities before the arranged cutoff time however, and permitted one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report stated that staffing configuration 'was not typical for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

Reagan National has been understaffed for several years, with just 19 completely certified controllers as of September 2023 - well below the target of 30 - according to the most current Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.

The situation appeared to have improved because then, as a source told CNN the Reagan National control tower was 85 percent staffed with 24 of 28 positions filled.

Chronic understaffing at air traffic control towers is nothing new, with widely known causes consisting of high turnover and spending plan cuts.

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In order to fill the spaces, controllers are frequently asked to work 10-hour days, 6 days a week.

After the release of the report, former Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation Mary Schiavo considered the findings as 'unusual'.

She said: 'This NTSB action is highly unusual. The release of an emergency situation suggestion requesting the FAA take instant action, before the conclusion of the NTSB examination is unusual.'

The two aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that showed up on dashcams of cars and trucks driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.

Less than a month later, on February 17, a Delta passenger aircraft crashed-landed upside down in disorderly scenes at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Miraculously, everybody on board endured after being suspended upside-down by their seat belts for a number of minutes till they tentatively started leaving.

The airplane had actually been heading to Toronto from Minneapolis - Saint Paul International Airport with 76 guests and 4 crew members on board.

Some 21 individuals were required to the hospital for treatment to small injuries, and Delta has actually provided each person a no-strings $30,000 payment in payment.

And the aircraft carnage is continuous - on Sunday, yet another jet crash-landed, this time in a parking lot of a rural Pennsylvania retirement home.

Dramatic footage showed the Beechcraft A36TC emerge in flames in the parking area of Brethren Village in Manheim Township. Five people were rushed to health center.

Medics, ambulances, and emergency lorries hurried to the scene in Lancaster County as flames engulfed the aircraft and neighboring cars.

The plane took off as scheduled on Sunday afternoon, but quickly requested to land back on the tarmac since its door had opened.

American Airlines