The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued an urgent safety recommendation as part of its ongoing investigation into a fatal air collision in Washington DC.
The NTSB has demanded the FAA permanently prohibit helicopter operations near Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) under specific runway configurations.
This decisive action comes in the wake of a tragic midair collision, underscoring what the NTSB deems “an intolerable risk to aviation safety” and a heightened danger of midair collisions.
NTSB Urgent Safety Recommendation
Specifically, the NTSB is urging the FAA to implement a permanent ban on helicopter traffic within the vicinity of DCA when runways 15 and 33 are active for arrivals and departures.
They are also advocating for the establishment of an alternative helicopter route to mitigate the impact of this restriction.
The catalyst for this urgent recommendation was a devastating collision on January 29th this year. A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was navigating a designated FAA helicopter corridor at night.
It collided with a PSA Airlines regional jet on its final approach to DCA’s Runway 33. The mid-air collision resulted in the loss of 67 lives, encompassing passengers and crew from both aircraft.
Insufficient Vertical Separation
In their comprehensive 10-page report, the NTSB highlighted the critical issue of insufficient vertical separation. It found that helicopters traversing the Route 4 helicopter corridor had minimal separation from landing traffic.
At the maximum authorized altitude of 200 feet could potentially have as little as 75 feet of vertical separation from an aircraft on landing approach to Runway 33.
The NTSB deemed this separation inadequate, emphasizing that the actual separation could be potentially even less. This depended on the helicopter’s lateral distance from the Potomac River shoreline. Furthermore, if an approaching aircraft deviated below the designated 3° visual glidepath, it would further reduce this minimal separation.
Reactions from Aviation Experts
The gravity of the situation prompted strong reactions from aviation experts. Mary Schiavo, a Motley Rice aviation attorney and former Inspector General of the U.S. DOT, emphasized the rarity of such a pre-investigation emergency recommendation.
“This NTSB action is highly unusual,” Schiavo stated. “The release of an emergency recommendation requesting the FAA take immediate action, before the completion of the NTSB investigation is rare.”
“They cited 15,214 helicopter/commercial airplane close calls between 2021 and 2024. They labeled the helicopter route an intolerable risk to aviation and demanded an immediate permanent closure.”
Schiavo further highlighted alarming statistics. “In half of the close calls, the helicopter was above its altitude restriction; two-thirds of these events were at night.”
“The NTSB noted that it found this data on databases readily available to the FAA. The FAA should have been reviewing these for safety trend analysis, but apparently it was not. The NTSB noted that the conflict alert in the ATC tower was clearly audible at 20 seconds before the collision.”
Systemic Failures Called Out
Brian Alexander, Partner at Kreindler & Kreindler, represents the families who lost loved ones on the American flight. He echoed these concerns in a statement, emphasizing systemic failures.
“This was not an isolated incident, but a symptom of broader failures in our aviation safety system. If the necessary reforms had been implemented sooner, Flight 5342 likely would have landed safely and our family members would be home with us.”
He further asserted, “For years, aviation and safety experts warned that the FAA’s inadequate oversight of its Air Traffic Control system—including staffing shortages, training deficiencies, and ineffective traffic separation procedures—posed an intolerable risk to public safety.”
“The devastating midair collision over Washington, D.C., which claimed 67 lives, was the tragic realization of those warnings.”
The NTSB’s investigation revealed a disturbing pattern of near misses, highlighting the urgent need for action, Alexander noted.
“The report also confirms a recurring history of dangerously close encounters between helicopters and commercial flights that demanded action to mitigate this hazard long before the deadly midair collision on January 29, 2025.”
Conclusion
The NTSB’s data analysis uncovered thousands of instances of inadequate separation between commercial flights and military helicopters at DCA. Over the past three years, they documented an average of two near-collision incidents per month, where aircraft came dangerously close to colliding.
This urgent recommendation highlights the NTSB’s concern for the safety of air travel near one of the nation’s busiest airports.
The FAA’s response to this recommendation will be critical in addressing the identified safety risks and restoring public confidence in the aviation system.
Click the banner to subscribe to our weekly newsleter.
Click the photo to join our WhatsApp channel so then you can stay up to date with everything going on in the aviation industry!
