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”.
Read more:
Washington DC plane crash: What we know so far
Remains of all 67 victims of Washington DC plane crash recovered
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.
Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Mr Giuliani suffered “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg” when his vehicle was struck from behind while driving on a highway near Manchester on Saturday evening, according to Michael Ragusa, Mr Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Mr Ragusa said in a statement on X, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Mr Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, according to Mr Ragusa.
His head of security said the 81-year-old had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf. The crash shortly after was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Mr Ragusa said.
Rudy Giuliani attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January. Pic: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters
Mr Giuliani, who worked as an attorney for Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be released from hospital in a few days.
His son, Andrew Giuliani, thanked people for reaching out after hearing about his father’s accident, writing on X: “Your prayers mean the world.”
“As a son, I can tell you that I’m honored to have a Dad that I can call the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen,” he added.
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US
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
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