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18h ago

NTSB Opens Hearings on January D.C. Midair Collision as Senate Advances ADS-B Bill

Investigators will scrutinize air traffic control procedures, helicopter equipment and communication failures in livestreamed public sessions.

FILE - Salvage crews work on recovering wreckage near the site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
A crane retrieves part of the wreckage from American Airlines flight 5342, which was operated by PSA Airlines, on February 4, 2025.
KDCA Reagan D.C. airport air traffic control ATC
A crane retrieves part of the helicopter from the Potomac River as an American plane departs, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the river, by the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., February 6, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

Overview

  • The NTSB’s three-day hearing in Washington will gather testimony and examine wreckage, cockpit recordings and ATC transcripts to determine the crash’s technical and procedural causes.
  • Investigators have highlighted FAA oversight lapses after 85 near-misses in the D.C. terminal area and will probe altitude discrepancies aboard the Black Hawk and potential radio communication breakdowns.
  • In March the FAA permanently banned the helicopter route involved to keep military and commercial traffic separate near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
  • The bipartisan ROTOR Act introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz would mandate ADS-B Out and In systems on all civilian and military aircraft and limit exemptions to narrowly defined sensitive missions.
  • Families of the 67 victims have formed an advocacy group that has set seven reform goals, including modernizing overstretched air traffic control infrastructure and reviewing helicopter routes around congested airports.