Helicopter flights at Washington’s Reagan airport should be partially banned amid ‘intolerable risk’ of collisions with planes – investigators
Some helicopter flights at Washington’s Reagan National Airport should be banned amid an “intolerable risk” of collisions with planes, crash investigators have said.
It comes after 67 people were killed in a mid-air collision earlier this year between a Black Hawk military helicopter and an American Airlines flight as the plane was coming in to land at the airport.
The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has said helicopter operations near planes at the airport pose an “intolerable risk” to aviation safety.
As the NTSB issued its preliminary report into January’s deadly crash, chair Jennifer Homendy said the board was calling for action to prevent a similar catastrophe from reoccurring.
Two urgent safety recommendations
One of the board’s recommendations is to prevent helicopters from flying near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when two lesser-used runways are operational.
Wreckage from the helicopter. Pic: NTSB
An investigator inspecting wreckage in February from the crash. Pic: NTSB
Ms Homendy said the current separation distance between planes and helicopters at the airport was “insufficient”.
At the moment, helicopters and planes can be as close as 75ft apart during landing, Ms Homendy said, adding it was “far too close”.
Investigators have found 15,214 cases of planes getting alerts about helicopters being in close proximity between October 2021 and December 2024, she added.
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Data shows conflicting altitude readings
Ms Homendy said the NTSB was releasing a report containing two urgent safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concerning the helicopter routes near the airport.
Besides proposing the ban on certain helicopter flights, the NTSB is also recommending the FAA create an alternate route that can be used by helicopters when the two secondary runways at Reagan National are in use.
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New audio from Washington plane crash
‘It shouldn’t take a tragedy’
Speaking of how the risk hadn’t been identified until the crash occurred, Ms Homendy said: “It does make me angry but it also makes me feel incredibly devastated for families that are grieving because they lost loved ones.”
The NTSB chair added: “It shouldn’t take a tragedy to require immediate action”.
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Asked if there had been an oversight, she said “it’s stronger than an oversight” as there was data between 2021 and 2024 the FAA “could’ve used anytime” to determine that “we have a trend here and a problem here and looked at that route”.
“That didn’t occur which is why we are taking action today but unfortunately people lost lives and loved ones are grieving.”
Inaccurate readings
Investigators have said the helicopter may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, and the crew may not have heard key instructions from air traffic controllers.
The collision likely occurred at an altitude just under 300ft (91 metres), as the plane descended toward the helicopter, which was well above its 200ft (61-metre) limit for that location.
Following the crash between the passenger jet and the Black Hawk military helicopter, the FAA temporarily barred most helicopters near the airport – located in Arlington, Virginia – until it could review the NTSB’s initial findings.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Trump and Putin’s latest call on Ukraine
Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
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