News of the deadly collision on January 29th between an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 and a United States Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) shocked the aviation world.
The collision, which occurred in one of the world's most tightly controlled airspaces, killed all 67 passengers involved, making it the deadliest U.S. air crash since 2001. An overnight search-and-rescue effort turned into a recovery operation on the 30th, which has now recovered all 67 bodies.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began its investigation last week and intends to release a preliminary report at the end of February.
Preliminary data shows that the Black Hawk helicopter was flying 300 feet on the air traffic control display at the time of the collision, 100 feet above the maximum permitted altitude for the route it was using.
Unlike the United States’ last major plane crash, which killed 50 in upstate New York 16 years ago, American Airlines Flight 5342 can’t be held responsible. With 7 minutes till landing, the flight had been given the all-clear to descend on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
So who then should shoulder the burden for this national tragedy? And what lessons can be learned to prevent something similar happening again?
The blame game
On Thursday 30th, as the nation reeled from the crash, American Airlines’ CEO said that President Trump had called and shared his condolences for the airline’s crew members, passengers, and their loved ones.
In a press conference shortly after the incident, President Trump blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring at the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) for undermining air safety.
Trump accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of encouraging the FAA to recruit workers “who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative.” He added that the program allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and “dwarfism.”
Trump went on to complain specifically about Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s transportation secretary, calling his record “a disaster.” “He’s run it right into the ground with his diversity,” said the newly inaugurated President.
Vice President JD Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed Trump’s concerns about diversity programs and hiring.
“When you don’t have the best standards in who you’re hiring, it means on the one hand, you’re not getting the best people in government,” Vance said, “But on the other hand, it puts stresses on the people who are already there.”
Some experts, however, pointed fingers at the Trump administration and raised questions about whether disruptions at the agency contributed to the crash. These reports imply that Elon Musk’s repeated demands that the former administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Whitaker, step down left the agency without an experienced or Senate-confirmed leader during a major crisis.
FAA underfunded and overworked?
More than a week from the crash, the NTSB is yet to clarify the situation. The air traffic control display at Reagan National should have shown that the Black Hawk was on an unusual or prohibited flight path; the agency said it was continuing to collect data on its position but that it would not be finished until the helicopter wreckage could be pulled from the water. That is not expected to happen until next week.
Reports earlier in the week that a supervisor allowed an air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan National Airport to leave early, hours before the collision, have now been confirmed by the FAA. According to these reports, a single controller was left to handle the air traffic of planes and helicopters flying over the airspace when two people would typically monitor both flight paths.
Federal officials have long expressed concern about an overworked and understaffed air traffic control system, especially since the number of close calls, or what aviation insiders call “runway incursions,” has doubled over the last decade. Officials have cited issues with competitive pay, long hours, intensive training, and mandatory retirements as contributing to the staffing shortages.
In 2023, aviation experts who examined the Federal Aviation Administration issued a report saying that the FAA needs better staffing, equipment, and technology.
According to the report, the FAA has about 1,000 fewer fully certified controllers than it had 11 years ago. Hiring fell by nearly half during the pandemic, and the agency’s latest workforce plan said it was short 3,000 controllers to fill air traffic control stations and towers across the country as of May 2024. The FAA announced it had hired nearly 2,000 new air traffic controllers last year, but the agency’s two-year training programme in Oklahoma City remains a bottleneck for qualified air traffic controllers.
In the wake of the report, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told lawmakers, “While these [runway incursions] are incredibly rare, our safety system is showing clear signs of strain that we cannot ignore.”
Since then, flight numbers have continued to increase at DCA, the nation's most crowded airspace and runway. With 890 daily flights, DCA operates at nearly twice its built capacity.
Yesterday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Elon Musk's Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team would take part in an 'upgrade' of the Federal Aviation Administration's computer system in the wake of the crash.
“Big News - Talked to the DOGE team. They are going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system,” said the Transport Secretary.
In recent days, Musk's DOGE team has been sweeping through the federal government with force, gaining access to the Treasury's payment processing system and shutting down the US Agency for International Development, which has provoked outrage from Democratic lawmakers.
It’s unclear what DOGE plans to do to improve the nation’s aviation infrastructure and safety system, but safety, not politically-motivated cuts, should be their prime directive.
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