FAA introduces wellness checks for Reagan air traffic controllers
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced extra support for air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport following a series of incidents, including an alleged fight between two team members.
Damon Marsalis Gaines, 39, was taken into custody by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department and charged with assault and battery after the incident on Thursday. The airport authority runs National Airport and Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Now the agency says it will send a critical incident stress management team to the airport to offer confidential support for staff following stressful events, increase operational supervisor staffing from six to eight, review airport certified professional controller staffing numbers and the arrival rate of aircraft per hour.
Additionally, the agency intends to conduct regular wellness checks at the facility.
The FAA said Gaines, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, remains on administrative leave as officials investigate the matter.
The agency is in the middle of a campaign to recruit air traffic controllers after several aviation disasters this year put the national shortage in the spotlight. The country needs more than 14,000 air traffic controllers and there are currently around 10,800.
In January, National Airport suffered a fatal incident when an American Airlines plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67 people. A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary investigation found the airport had experienced 15,000 near-misses from October 2021 to December 2024.
On Friday, the airport had another near-miss incident when a Delta Air Lines flight came close to a US Air Force T-3 jet around 3 p.m. as the military jet flew over the east bank of the river for a flyover ceremony at nearby Arlington National Cemetery.
Following the fatal crash, the FAA imposed restrictions on non-commercial traffic flying over the river, with exceptions for emergency, presidential and vice-presidential operations.
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