The head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for not “taking ownership” in the deadly Black Hawk helicopter collision with a passenger jet near Washington Reagan National Airport in January.
During a hearing on Wednesday that is set to continue this week, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy alleged that some FAA tower employees knew there “was a problem” with U.S. Army helicopters flying in close proximity to passenger aircraft near the airport.
Sixty-seven people died on Jan. 29 after a regional American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., officials said, the nation’s first major commercial airline crash since 2009.
The Army helicopter was on a training flight at the time of the collision.
“Every sign was there, that there was a safety risk and the tower was telling you that,” Homendy said of the air traffic controllers working at Reagan National Airport (DCA) at the time.
“Yet you know what FAA did, after the accident occurred, you transferred out the air traffic manager, two assistant general managers,” Homendy continued. “You transferred people out instead of taking ownership over the fact that everybody in FAA tower was saying there was a problem.”
According to Homendy, who cited FAA surveillance data, there were over 15,000 close proximity events between helicopters and commercial aircraft at DCA between October 2021 and December 2024.
Hellbound and Down 