An internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety report about the collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet says that staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”
That left one air traffic controller (ATC) to handle both helicopters and planes, a job that two controllers typically handled.
Not only is the workload doubled for the controller, but the ATC would also use different radio frequencies to talk to the helicopter and the plane. "While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other," reports the New York Times.
The staffing shortages are nothing new at Reagan or any other air traffic control tower in the U.S. The job is brutal, with a workload of up to ten hours a day, six days a week. Turnover is high.
The tower at Reagan National is roughly 30% understaffed. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association union said airports lost air traffic control staffing nationwide by 9% from 2011 to 2023, while flights increased during that same time period.
"It's no different than driving the vehicle down the road, if you sit there and try to drive, staring at your speed. Make sure you don't break the speed limit," said Michael Julius, an air traffic control instructor at Lewis University. "You're not going to see what's in front of you. You got to get your head up. You got to be out the window. You got to use your technology appropriately."
Washington, D.C.'s crowded airspace has elicited warnings for years.
The airport’s convenience and close proximity to the Capitol have made it irresistible to Washington’s politicians. Over the years, lawmakers have lobbied to open access and add more flights, often to make quick jaunts to their home states easier. Last year, after a fierce debate over whether the airport could absorb more flights, Congress authorized more, which were awarded to five airlines proposing to fly to San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Adding to the crowded airspace are helicopters that crisscross the Potomac every day, many of them military flights from the Pentagon and other government agencies ferrying officials or other passengers and cargo around Washington.
Officials and commercial and military pilots have warned that the airspace leaves little margin for error.
“We’re dealing with an extraordinarily complex airspace system that has been complicated even worse by the addition of flights to National Airport,” said Keith Meurlin, head of the Washington Airports Task Force. “At what point is enough enough?”
There has been talk in the media and the halls of Congress for 40 years to shut down what was then Washington National Airport and be satisfied with Dulles's vast, modern airport facility.
Forty-three years ago, another plane crashed into the Potomac, precipitating calls to close the airport for good. An Air Florida flight to Fort Lauderdale lost lift due to ice on the wings and crashed into the icy water after clipping the 14th Street bridge. Only five people were rescued from that icy water, while 74 people on the plane were killed.
The rescue of the 1982 passengers took place on live TV.
On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 from Washington Reagan was bound for Fort Lauderdale when it hit the 14th st bridge and went down in the Potomac. It was carrying 79 souls. Only four passengers and one crew member were rescued from the crash. RIP pic.twitter.com/6SGjIwGqIz
— PhotographicFloridian (@JackLinFLL) January 30, 2025
Politicians will never allow the Reagan National to be closed. It's far too convenient for our busy lawmakers to pass up.
Meanwhile, the odds of an accident happening again in the busy D.C. air corridor are very high.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member