The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending permanent changes to a helicopter route near D.C.'s Ronald Reagan National Airport after discovering helicopters were regularly flying as close as 75 feet away from commercial planes.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy gave the update to reporters Tuesday as the agency continues to investigate the Jan. 29 collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter. Both plunged into the Potomac River, killing all 67 people aboard.
Homendy said investigators found separation distances between helicopters on what's known as "Route 4" and planes landing on DCA runway 33 were too close and posed an "intolerable risk" to aviation safety.
Homendy said the NTSB is recommending the FAA permanently stop helicopters from flying on Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals at DCA.
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"It shouldn't take tragedy like this to occur. Unfortunately, one did, and so we are calling on action, but there clearly were indicators where safety trending could have occurred," Homendy said.
She said the NTSB is also recommending the FAA designate an alternate helicopter route to help law enforcement, Coast Guard patrols and others who rely on Route 4.
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Enacting the new rule will also add to air traffic controllers' workloads as they will have to hold helicopters in place north and south of DCA when runways 15 and 33 are in use, Homendy said.
Close encounters
From October 2021 through December 2024 there were 15,214 close proximity incidents between commercial airplanes and helicopters, Homendy said. In those instances, the aircraft were less than one nautical mile apart laterally and less than 400 feet apart vertically.
For perspective, there were a total of 944,179 commercial operations at DCA during that same time period.
Homendy said the repeated proximity issues are "stronger than an oversight."
"That data from October 2021 through December 2024, they could have used that information any time to determine that 'we have a trend here and a problem here,' and looked at that route. That didn't occur, which is why we're taking action today. But unfortunately, people lost lives, and loved ones are grieving," Homendy said.
While pointing to a map of the airspace along the Potomac River and near DCA, Homendy told reporters that helicopters flying in a certain area over the eastern shoreline of the river have just 75 feet of vertical separation from airplanes approaching runway 33 at the same time. She said the distance decreases if the helicopter is farther from the shoreline, and the Black Hawk involved in the crash was farther west.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ordered restricted helicopter traffic in the area soon after the crash. The restriction carried out by the FAA is set to last through March 31.
"We remain concerned about the significant potential for a future midair collision at DCA, which is why we are recommending a permanent solution today," Homendy said.
Investigators previously said the helicopter may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and the crew may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers.
The collision was the deadliest plane crash in the U.S. since 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five more on the ground.
A string of crashes this year along with a near miss have brought attention to air travel, which remains overwhelmingly safe in the U.S.
A medical transport jet crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood and killed seven people two days after the crash in Washington, D.C.
A week after that, a small commuter aircraft crashed off western Alaska on Feb. 6. All 10 onboard were killed.
Eleven days later, a Delta plane crashed and flipped over upon landing in Toronto.
Two small planes collided in midair in Arizona on Feb. 19, killing two people.
Additionally, there was a scary moment on Feb. 25 in Chicago, when a Southwest Airlines plane aborted its landing to avoid crashing into another plane crossing the runway.
Here's a look at the Jan. 29 crash:
What happened?
American Airlines Flight 5342 was coming in from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, as it approached to land on a clear night. Nearby, a U.S. Army Black Hawk with three soldiers on board was practicing emergency evacuation routes that would be used to ferry out key government officials in an attack or catastrophe.
Investigators believe the helicopter crew was wearing night-vision goggles that would have limited their peripheral vision.
A few minutes before the twin-engine jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked if it could use a shorter runway. The pilots agreed, and flight-tracking sites show the plane turned to adjust its approach.
Shortly before the collision, a controller got an alert that the plane and Black Hawk were converging and asked the helicopter if it had the plane in sight. The military pilot said yes and asked for “visual separation” with the jet for a second time — allowing it to fly closer than if the pilots couldn't see the plane. Controllers approved the request.
Roughly 20 seconds later, the aircraft collided.
The investigation
The NTSB has recovered all flight data recorders and pulled the wreckage of both aircraft from the Potomac.
It will take more than a year to get the final NTSB report, but officials have provided regular updates as investigators learn more.
Homendy told reporters last month that the Black Hawk's cockpit recorder suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left the crew unable to hear air traffic control tell them, just before the crash, to move behind the jet.
“That transmission was interrupted — it was stepped on,” she said at a Feb. 14 briefing, leaving the helicopter’s crew unable to hear the words “pass behind the” because their microphone key was pressed.
The radio altitude of the helicopter was 278 feet (85 meters) at the time of the collision, which would put the Black Hawk above its 200-foot (61-meter) limit for that location.
Cockpit conversations a few minutes before the crash indicated the crew may not have had accurate altitude readings, with the helicopter’s pilot calling out that they were then at 300 feet (91 meters), but the instructor pilot saying 400 feet (122 meters), Homendy said.
“We are looking at the possibility there may be bad data,” she said.
That generation of Black Hawks typically has two types of altimeters: one relying on barometric pressure and the other on radio frequency signals bounced off the ground. Helicopter pilots typically rely on barometric readings while flying, but the helicopter’s black box captures its radio altitude.
Almost immediately after the crash, President Donald Trump faulted the helicopter for flying too high. He also blamed federal diversity and inclusion efforts, particularly regarding air traffic controllers. When pressed by reporters, the president could not back up those claims. A few days later, Trump blamed an “obsolete” air traffic control system that he said should have been replaced years ago.
Army officials have said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced and familiar with the crowded skies around Washington.
The victims
The Army identified the Black Hawk crew as 28-year-old Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach of Durham, North Carolina; Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland. O’Hara was the crew chief and Eaves and Lobach were pilots.
Among the jet’s passengers were several members of the Skating Club of Boston returning from a development camp for elite junior skaters that followed the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. A figure skating tribute event in Washington raised $1.2 million for crash victims' families.
Others killed included a group of hunters returning from a guided trip in Kansas, four members of a steamfitters’ local union in suburban Maryland, nine students and parents from Fairfax County, Virginia, schools and two Chinese nationals.
