Safety board calls to end helo flights on route of fatal DC crash

The Nationwide Transportation and Security Board has concluded that the separation distances allowed between helicopter and airplane site visitors on the route the place an Military helicopter and a industrial passenger jet collided midair on Jan. 29 close to Washington “pose an insupportable threat to aviation security,” in keeping with its preliminary investigation report launched Tuesday.

Because of this, the NTSB is recommending helicopter flights be instantly prohibited on “Route 4″ — the place the deadly crash occurred — between Hains Level and the Wilson Bridge alongside the Potomac River when planes are touchdown or taking off on runways 15 and 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport (DCA).

The board can also be recommending another helicopter route between Hains Level and the Wilson Bridge when that section of Route 4 is just not open to rotary-wing site visitors.

The on-scene investigation of the collision between the American Airways flight from Wichita, Kansas, and a UH-60 Black Hawk over the Potomac River concluded Feb. 14

When the plane collided, the fuselage of the industrial jet broke aside in three locations and was found inverted in waist-deep water within the Potomac. The helicopter wreckage was discovered close by. All 64 individuals aboard the passenger jet and all three Military crew members aboard the Black Hawk — Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach and Workers Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara — have been killed.

In the meantime, the investigation continues off-site in varied labs and different safe areas, in keeping with Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair. The preliminary report lays out what occurred however not how or why the crash occurred, Homendy mentioned in a briefing Tuesday.

“For this investigation, we’re reviewing airport operations and prior incidents, together with close to midair collision occasions,” Homendy mentioned, utilizing data from voluntary security reporting applications and the Federal Aviation Administration.

That knowledge reveals that from 2011 via 2024, a “overwhelming majority” of reported incidents occurred on strategy to touchdown, and preliminary evaluation discovered that at the least one Site visitors Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS, Decision Advisory was triggered monthly at DCA as a consequence of a helicopter’s proximity, Homendy mentioned.

Not like site visitors advisories, that are issued when an intruding plane is about 20 seconds or 0.3 nautical miles from the closest level of strategy, TCAS decision advisories sign a collision risk and require speedy motion, Homendy mentioned.

In over half of the encounters from 2011 to 2024, the helicopter might have been flying above the route altitude restriction, which is proscribed to a ceiling of 200 toes above the bottom, Homendy mentioned. Two-thirds of the occasions occurred at evening.

From October 2021 via December 2024, there have been 944,179 industrial operations at DCA with 15,214 “shut proximity occasions” between industrial planes and helicopters “by which there was a lateral separation distance of lower than one nautical mile and vertical separation of lower than 400 toes,” Homendy mentioned.

Of these 15,214 occasions, there have been 85 very shut calls involving lateral separations of lower than 1,500 toes and fewer than 200 toes of vertical separation, in keeping with Homendy.

By way of analysis of the crash, the NTSB discovered that the Black Hawk was not flying within the very restricted space it ought to have been flying close to DCA.

“On the most altitude right here of simply 200 toes, a helicopter working over the jap shoreline of the Potomac River would have simply 75 toes of vertical separation from an airplane approaching runway 33,” Homendy mentioned.

Following the accident, the U.S. Division of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy instantly restricted helicopter site visitors from working over the Potomac River at DCA till March 31.

“As that deadline nears, we stay involved in regards to the vital potential for a future midair collision at DCA, which is why we’re recommending a everlasting answer in the present day,” Homendy famous.

Homendy acknowledged that totally closing Route 4 between Hains Level and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are in use would prohibit a key aviation hall for Coast Guard patrols, regulation enforcement and authorities operations.

Nevertheless, she famous that requiring controllers to carry helicopters north or south of DCA throughout these instances may additionally add to controllers’ workload and improve threat. To that finish, NTSB is recommending the FAA set up another helicopter route between Hains Level and the Wilson Bridge when that section of Route 4 is closed.

Though the preliminary report is out, Homendy mentioned her group “has a whole lot of work to do,” together with simulations, visibility research and extra interviews associated to helicopter operations and air site visitors management.

When requested within the briefing whether or not the NTSB would name the ensuing crash an oversight, Homendy mentioned, “I imply, it’s stronger than an oversight, proper? … The info we’ve pulled is from a voluntary security reporting system that FAA may have used anytime. That knowledge from October 2021 via December 2024, they may have used that data any time to find out that we’ve a pattern right here and an issue right here and checked out that route.

“That didn’t happen, which is why we’re taking motion in the present day, however sadly, individuals misplaced lives and family members are grieving.”