NTSB recommends ban on certain helicopter flights near National Airport

Citing “intolerable risk,” federal investigators said Tuesday that certain helicopter flights should be permanently banned near Reagan National Airport, a recommendation that focused attention on the Federal Aviation Administration’s inaction despite a history of close calls before a deadly crash this year.

The National Transportation Safety Board called for the restrictions on helicopter flight patterns as it released a preliminary report on the Jan. 29 collision of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people.

The NTSB said the separation between helicopters and jets in the area was insufficient and posed “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chances of a midair collision.”

The board called on the FAA to quickly close a helicopter route along the eastern bank of the Potomac River when planes are using the runway involved in the crash and devise an alternative path for essential helicopter flights when the route is closed. The airport in Virginia is just over the river from D.C.

Temporary restrictions imposed after the accident have curtailed helicopter flights, and Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in response to the NTSB report that those restrictions would continue while under review.

Jennifer Homendy, the board’s chair, said the FAA could have used the same data her investigators relied on to identify the risk and examine the helicopter routes before the crash occurred.

“It does make me angry, but it also makes me feel incredibly devastated for families that are grieving because they lost loved ones,” Homendy said.

The NTSB’s urgent safety recommendations are outlined in a 20-page report detailing the circumstances of the crash and the initial investigation, but it does not pinpoint specific causes. It will probably take a year or more before investigators determine the cause of the crash.

The FAA did not respond to requests for comment.

In the weeks since the midair collision, investigators have sought to understand why the Army helicopter with a crew of three was flying above the 200-foot altitude limit placed on such aircraft operating in the corridor.

They are also examining whether the crew may have mistaken another jet preparing to land at the airport for the American Airlines regional jet arriving from Wichita, which carried 64 passengers and crew members. The NTSB is looking into whether there may have been a miscommunication between the helicopter’s crew and controllers, and whether irregular staffing in the airport’s tower the night of the crash may have been a factor.

The calamity was the deadliest U.S. passenger jet crash in more than two decades and occurred in one of the most complex, security-sensitive air corridors in the country, where passenger jets landing at National Airport routinely cross paths with helicopters flown by more than 50 operators.

The families of those who died in the crash were briefed separately Tuesday. Debi Epstein, whose ex-husband Ian Epstein was a flight attendant on the American flight, said she initially thought his death was a freak accident. But she said the NTSB’s report Tuesday made her view the crash as something worse: preventable.

“This was an accident waiting to happen,” Epstein said. “It wasn’t a ‘Is it going to happen?’ It was a ‘When is it going to happen?’ And that angers me.”

Duffy, who was confirmed by the Senate the day before the crash, said there was enough information for officials to have identified a problem sooner.

“Does it piss me off? Yes,” Duffy said at a news conference. “The data was there - it wasn’t effectively analyzed to see that we had that kind of risk.”

Tuesday’s report also bolstered a Washington Post examination of flight tracking and government incident data that found that warnings of an airborne collision happened more frequently near the airport than previously disclosed. The board’s examination found that between October 2021 and December 2024, there were 85 instances in which helicopters and planes came within 1,500 feet laterally and 200 feet vertically.

At least once a month dating to 2011, airliners received warnings from their collision systems about helicopters, according to investigators. In more than half the cases, investigators said the helicopter involved may have been flying higher than the routes allowed.

The Post also found that concerns were raised about potential safety issues as recently as 2020, leading to questions about why the agency did not act more aggressively to manage dangers in the airspace. The approach to the runway the jet was using the night of the crash comes within 15 feet of a helicopter route, according to a Post analysis.

After the crash, the FAA moved quickly to restrict helicopter operations, with exceptions for crucial flights. Duffy said at the time that officials would reexamine the policy following the NTSB’s preliminary report. Before that change, more than 100 helicopters a day flew at low altitudes near the airport.

Duffy said Tuesday that he would leave in place exceptions that include emergency flights and presidential transport.

The Army said in a statement that it was ready to help implement the recommendations. It said it is committed to safety and will comply with FAA restrictions.

The Post also has reported that the FAA put new rules in place that have led to flights at National Airport being held when President Donald Trump flies to and from the White House in his helicopter, Marine One. The limits have led to delays and even flight diversions at the busy airport, which was used by more than 25 million passengers last year.

Members of congressional committees that oversee the FAA received a separate briefing from NTSB officials on the preliminary report Tuesday afternoon. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), chair of the aviation subcommittee of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, announced he will hold a hearing on the crash this month.

“While this report provides some clarity, I know that nothing will take away the pain felt by the families of the victims, and I continue to pray for the Kansans, and all Americans, who are grieving this loss,” Moran said in a statement.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (Washington), the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said Congress needed to ensure that the FAA is properly monitoring the kinds of risks the NTSB identified.

“The data also raises serious questions as to how such a route was allowed to continue when alarm bells were literally going off,” Cantwell said in a statement. “The lack of FAA oversight of this data and warning signals has to change.”

More than 300 first responders from across the region aided in the recovery effort. The Army helicopter was found upside down in the river, as was the fuselage of the regional jet, which had broken into three pieces. Among those aboard the flight from Wichita to Washington were several young figure skaters and their families returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.