by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News April 1, 2025
Investigators uncovered 15,214 “near miss events” at Washington, DC's National Airport between 2021 and 2024, and the Biden-Harris FAA took no action, a senator noted at a hearing Thursday on the preliminary findings on January's mid-air collision at the airport.
“I want to know, why did the FAA not act?,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, ranking member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “Why did the FAA not act on 15,000 reports of dangerous proximity? How were these helicopter routes allowed to remain when alarm bells were literally going off in the towers?” Cantwell continued.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators said the 15,214 incidents occurred where aircraft were within one nautical mile of each other, with a vertical separation of less than 400 feet.
That included 85 cases where aircraft were less than 1,500 feet apart, with a vertical separation of less than 200 feet, according to the NTSB.
In 2024, Washington National Airport (DCA) had an average of 812 flight operations per day, or more than 23,000 flight operations per month, according to airport authorities and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
The FAA under the Trump Administration quickly acted following the release of the investigators' report to adopt NTSB recommendations to close the flight path the Army helicopter was using at the time of the collision with the commercial airliner on Jan. 29.
“I’m glad that something’s being done about it now,” said Dailey Crafton, whose brother, Casey, was killed in the crash. “But you know, it’s too little, too late for those of us who had family members on that plane.”
The FAA said it will require nearly all aircraft near National Airport to use an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast out system, known as ADS-B.
“All aircraft operating in DCA class B airspace will be required to broadcast their position and identification using ADS-B Out with very limited exceptions,” FAA Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau testified at Thursday's hearing.
Civilian and military aircraft use ADS-B, which helps an aircraft broadcast its location, altitude and other key factors while monitoring other aircraft around it. But the Army often turned it off while flying on missions in Washington.
The NTSB previously confirmed the helicopter had the necessary equipment and was capable of transmitting, but investigators are still unclear why it was not transmitting.
“I find that shocking and deeply unacceptable and I want to encourage the Army right now to revisit that policy and to revisit that policy today,” Sen. Ted Cruz said at the hearing.
American Airlines said in a statement: “We’re grateful for the NTSB’s urgent safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for Secretary Duffy and the FAA’s quick adoption of those recommendations. We will continue to coordinate closely with PSA Airlines as it cooperates with the NTSB as a party to the investigation.”
Tim Lilley, father of Sam Lilley, the first officer who was killed while flying the PSA Airlines flight on Jan. 29, said: “It’s apparent that the administration gets it. They’re acting. They’re acting quickly … The Army, they need to take that same action. There are things that could be done and could have been done already in the last two months that still need to get done.”
“I think that my son’s legacy is to get some things done to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” Lilley added.
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