Flights Reduced at DCA, Crash Investigation Continues -

By Tanner Brady

On the night of Wednesday, January 29, American Airlines flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on its way to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and plummeted into the Potomac River with 64 passengers on board. The crash, which occurred at 8:47 pm, is being called the deadliest air disaster since 2001. Now, two weeks later, investigators, having recovered portions of the jet, are learning more about what went wrong that night.

On January 30, investigators determined that there were no survivors. All 67 people on the flight, including crew members, died, as well as the three soldiers on the helicopter. Investigators also recovered the plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders, also known as a black box. Over the next several days, hundreds of first responders, including dive teams, recovered the bodies of the victims.

While investigators do not yet have all the answers, a look into the flight data revealed that the helicopter may have been flying above its 200 foot ceiling limit. The air traffic control data revealed it may have been flying at 300, although that data was rounded to the nearest hundred feet, so it’s only an estimate.

Full investigations can take a year or more to complete; however, investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.

Meanwhile, the region is still in shock from what happened. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reduced the number of flights that can land at Reagan National Airport each hour from 28 to 26. In an email obtained by Reuters, officials told airlines this change was caused by “concern for our tower personnel on duty, who have an increased level of stress while also having a front row view of the accident recovery.” While this would reduce the risk, the FAA also told airlines that the change would increase average delays from 40 to 50 minutes. As of now, it is not clear as to whether airlines will be forced to cancel flights as a result of this.

The FAA has also put temporary major restrictions on helicopters flying near the airport, which will last at least through March. Helicopter traffic around DCA has been limited to essential flights only, such as police, medical, and presidential transportation. When a helicopter must use the airspace, commercial flights and other civilian aircraft are not allowed in the same area. Although it is unclear how airport operations would be affected by this rule, the steep restrictions should drastically reduce the number of helicopters flown.

In addition, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he is considering abolishing rules that allow for air traffic control towers to reduce staffing. On the night of the crash, two controller positions had been consolidated into just one position for both helicopters and planes, which may have led to the crash. Duffy has said that he is looking to boost the number of new air traffic controller applicants to increase staffing. The FAA is understaffed by about 3,000 controllers, and nearly all control towers have staffing issues.

As federal investigators continue to determine the cause of the crash, travelers will start to see the impacts that this will have: not just on DCA, but on-air travel in the United States as a whole.