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

New details indicate the air traffic control tower at Reagan National Airport in the Washington, D.C., area was understaffed when a nearby helicopter collided with a passenger jet on Wednesday night.

An internal preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that staffing at the tower was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to The New York Times.

“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…” https://t.co/f78yCtL21j

— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) January 30, 2025

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.

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.

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 workforce plan.

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.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday afternoon, “Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history and a tragedy of terrible proportions.”

President Trump on DCA helicopter-plane crash: "Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capitol and in our nation's history and a tragedy of terrible proportions." pic.twitter.com/ZzeXygwpAr

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 30, 2025

National Transportation Safety Board officials said their agency plans to release a preliminary report on the D.C. crash “within 30 days” followed by a final report when an investigation has been completed.

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.

“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,” Duffy said in a series of posts to X.

“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,” the secretary added.

He concluded by saying: “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.”