The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday recommended the closure of a helicopter route near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when some of its runways are in use following January’s midair collision that killed dozens of people when a plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
NTSB Board Chair Jennifer Homendy called the location of helicopter Route 4 and the final approach path to DCA runway 33 “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chance of a midair collision.”
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Homendy said that currently helicopters and planes can be as close as 75 feet apart during landing. Between October 2021 and December 2024, 15,214 instances of planes getting alerts about helicopters in close proximity were identified, investigators said.
On Jan. 29, American Airlines Flight 5342, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, was approaching Reagan Airport from Wichita, Kansas, as an Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board was practicing emergency evacuation routes. The aircraft collided over the Potomac River, killing everyone on board.
In its recommendations, the NTSB said it identified risks of midair collisions between helicopters and airplane traffic using runways 15 and 33 at the airport.
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The agency recommended that helicopter operations be prohibited on Route 4 between Hains Point and Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are in use and to designate an alternative helicopter route when Route 4 is closed.
The Black Hawk may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, investigators said.
The collision likely occurred at an altitude of nearly 300 feet as the plane descended toward the helicopter, which was well above its 200-foot limit for that location, the Associated Press reported.
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The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation’s capital.
