Washington first responders believe there are no survivors after a midair collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport Wednesday night, Jan. 29. The “unprecedented” crash over the Potomac River is the first such collision in nearly 50 years.
Authorities said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the regional flight, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three service members were on the Black Hawk helicopter.
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When was the last mid-air collision over the U.S.?
“The last time that a United States airliner was involved in a mid-air collision was September of 1978 in San Diego, California,” Steven Wallace, the former director of the FAA’s Office of Accident Investigation, said. “[There are] around 30,000 flights a day. So to say it is unprecedented is an understatement, but no experts in the field will say it can’t happen tomorrow.”
In September 1978, a flight operated by Pacific Southwest Airlines collided with a private Cessna aircraft over San Diego, California. The accident left 144 people dead. That crash led to improvements in the Traffic Collision Avoidance System.
Wednesday’s collision was the deadliest air crash in the U.S. since 2001.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors,” Washington Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said. “We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.”
Where the investigation goes from here?
What led to the collision will be the subject of investigations from both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration in the coming months.
“On final approach into Reagan National, it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said of the disaster. “At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the aircraft.”
“Now the NTSB is in charge,” Wallace said of the investigation. “They will make the determination of probable cause. The one thing the NTSB never does is rush to conclusions. They’re extremely thorough, [and] extremely methodical. You typically don’t see an accident cause for often more than a year after it happens.”
“So [they] certainly would look at the air traffic control communications. It’s probably extremely unlikely that anything was wrong mechanically with either of these aircraft, but still, that’s not going to be eliminated, it’s going to be looked at,” Wallace added.
Discussions about Reagan Airport safety have gone on for years
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is directly across the river from the District of Columbia. The centralized location and heavy traffic make its approach more intricate than other airports.
“You build an airport out in the middle of the desert, let’s take, for example, the new Denver airport, or the airport at Dallas, Fort Worth,” Wallace said. “You go out there on a huge amount of land [and] you build an airport. And guess what? You don’t have runways [that] cross each other. And that’s what we call ‘building an airport off a clean sheet of paper.’
“And Reagan airport is the exact opposite: cramped space, all those three runways, they all cross each other. There are challenges there and pilots operate safely in and out of there all day every day, as you know,” he said.
What did President Trump say about the crash?
President Donald Trump addressed the crash the morning of Thursday, Jan. 30.
“We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system,” Trump said. “I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary.”
The president used the opportunity to further question the FAA’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“I do want to point out that various articles that appeared prior to my entering office, and here’s one: the FAA’s diversity push includes a focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities,” the president said.
The U.S. has faced an air traffic controller shortage for the last few years. The shortage even prompted United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby to say it could lead to serious issues.
