A preliminary FAA report indicated that staffing at the DCA Air Traffic Control tower was “not normal” at the time of the helicopter-plane collision.
According to NBC News, at the time of the collision, one controller was overseeing both helicopter and airplane traffic.
Typically, one controller focuses on helicopter activity.
An American Airlines flight carrying approximately 64 souls collided with a Blackhawk helicopter near Washington D.C. Reagan National Airport (DCA) late Wednesday evening.
All 67 people perished.
Webcam video from the Kennedy Center showed the Blackhawk helicopter seemingly flying into the American Airlines plane.
WATCH:
Webcam at the Kennedy Center caught an explosion mid-air across the Potomac. https://t.co/v75sxitpH6 pic.twitter.com/HInYdhBYs5
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) January 30, 2025
Ryan O’Hara, a 2014 graduate of Parkview High School in Lilburn, Georgia, has been identified as the crew chief of the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the collision.
The FAA report revealed the staffing at DCA ATC was “not normal” for the amount of traffic at the airport in the evening.
NBC News reported:
A preliminary FAA report on the collision found that air traffic control tower staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was “not normal” for the amount of air traffic and for the time of day, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.
The tower typically has a controller that focuses specifically on helicopter traffic. But at the time of the crash last night, the source said, one controller at DCA was overseeing both airplane and helicopter activity.
FAA guidelines do allow for this position to be combined, permitting one controller to control both airplanes and helicopters.
The post BREAKING: Initial FAA Report Indicates Staffing at DCA Air Traffic Control Tower Was “Not Normal” at Time of Chopper-Plane Collision appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.