Topline
An air traffic controller managing helicopter and airplane traffic on the night of the Potomac River mid-air collision in January should have informed the crew of the passenger jet an Army helicopter was heading toward their flight, the FAA said Thursday, acknowledging for the first time a possible control tower era on the night of the collision that killed 67 people.
The collision occurred in January. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Nick Fuller, the FAA’s acting deputy chief operating officer of operations, answered affirmatively when asked by National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy if the controller should have been informed there was a helicopter in its path.
Fuller also said the controller should have told the plane’s crew the helicopter was using visual separation, a method where pilots are allowed to visually maintain space from other aircraft.
The air traffic controller, who has not been publicly identified, was managing helicopter and airplane traffic the night of the incident, a responsibility that should normally be handled by two controllers between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
A singular controller can take the job of handling both ends of traffic with approval from a superior.
The controller told investigators he was becoming “a little overwhelmed” about 15 minutes before the collision happened but the volume of traffic was “manageable” and he was “fine” with it at the time of the crash.
Clark Allen, the operations manager at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at the time of the incident, commented on the high and unique traffic at the airport, saying controllers were “pushing the line” and that their role “can be taxing on a person, you know, constantly have to give, give, give or a push, push, push in order to efficiently move traffic.”
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Key Background
The collision happened when a PSA Airlines flight crashed into an Army helicopter on its approach to Reagan airport, killing all 64 passengers and crew on the plane and three soldiers in the Black Hawk helicopter. The crash, which occurred a little more than a year after an Alaska Airlines flight lost a door plug mid-flight, resparked nationwide concern over the safety of air travel and the staffing of air traffic control towers throughout the U.S. The Trump administration has since tried to address a national shortage of air traffic controllers that contributes to extensive overtime work for controllers, reduced traffic capacity at airports and delays and cancellations for travelers. The administration is specifically aiming to hire thousands of controllers this year, modernize traffic equipment and incentivize veteran controllers away from early retirement with more pay, as it takes years to train prospective controllers.
Further Reading
D.C. Plane Crash Live Updates: Black Boxes Recovered From Plane And Helicopter (Forbes)
2 Planes Clip Wings At D.C.’s Reagan National Airport—With Several Congress Members Aboard (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2025/07/31/air-traffic-controller-failed-to-properly-alert-plane-before-dc-crash-faa-says/