<p>New details indicate the air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area was understaffed when a nearby helicopter <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/plane-crash-halts-all-flights-at-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport" target="_blank" rel="noopener">collided</a> with a passenger jet on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>An internal preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/federal-aviation-administration-faa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAA</a>) said that staffing at the tower was &#8220;not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/29/us/plane-crash-washington-dc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The New York Times</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“The tower was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of Sept. ***2023***… The shortage — caused by ***years*** of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week…” <a href="https://t.co/f78yCtL21j">https://t.co/f78yCtL21j</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1885064348814504313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>The newspaper said the controller who was dealing with helicopters around the airport was also instructing planes that were landing and departing, tasks which are typically assigned to multiple people.</p>
<p>Also mentioned by The New York Times was how the Reagan airport tower had been understaffed for years, part of a nationwide shortage that has led to many controllers working long hours, up to six days a week.</p>
<p>The newspaper further explained that the Reagan airport tower was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023 reported to Congress in an FAA <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20241225184848/https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/afn-aba-20240509-cwp.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">workforce plan</a>.</p>
<p>Search efforts in the Potomac River began immediately after the mid-air crash between an American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew on board and an Army Black Hawk Helicopter carrying three soldiers.</p>
<p>President Donald Trump <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1885002717858263358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Thursday afternoon, &#8220;Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation&#8217;s capital and in our nation&#8217;s history and a tragedy of terrible proportions.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump on DCA helicopter-plane crash: &quot;Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation&#39;s capitol and in our nation&#39;s history and a tragedy of terrible proportions.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ZzeXygwpAr">pic.twitter.com/ZzeXygwpAr</a></p>
<p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1885002717858263358?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p>National Transportation Safety Board officials <a href="https://x.com/ABC/status/1885056794378015045" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> their agency plans to release a preliminary report on the D.C. crash &#8220;within 30 days&#8221; followed by a final report when an investigation has been completed.</p>
<p>The mid-air collision follows the Senate confirmations in the past week of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, both of whom have responded to the tragedy.</p>
<p>&#8220;What happened today should never have happened. I want the families of the victims to know that they have my word: I will not rest until you have the truth,&#8221; Duffy <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/1885017745244237898" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a series of posts to X.</p>
<p>&#8220;I will find answers to how this happened. I have directed every relevant agency to immediately investigate what went wrong, and I will not tolerate delays or bureaucratic excuses,&#8221; the secretary added.</p>
<p>He concluded by saying: &#8220;If there was negligence, incompetence, or failure anywhere in the system, we will find it — and I will fix it. I will provide further updates as we uncover the facts.&#8221;</p>

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Report Suggests Airport Tower Understaffed At Time Of Collision, Had Been For Years