Reagan Washington airport one of world's most complex airspaces
(NewsNation) — The airspace where a deadly mid-air crash between a passenger plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk occurred late Wednesday night is one of the most complex and congested in the country.
At least 28 bodies had been recovered from the scene Thursday morning. Officials said 27 bodies were recovered from the jet, and one was pulled from the helicopter. Officials expect no survivors from the crash, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), located along the Potomac River outside of Washington, D.C., services both military helicopters and passenger planes every day.
Audio captures air traffic control at moment of DC crash
The airspace is further complicated by the area's two other major airports, multiple military bases and frequent high-profile political voyages.
'You are at the border of three or four aviation systems here — and it's at those borders where most accidents tend to happen,' Aviation consultant Philip Butterworth-Hayes told BBC News, adding that DCA is 'the most controlled bit of airspace in the world.'
DCA is especially crowded, according to glass manufacturer SageGlass, which partook in renovations at the airport in 2021.
The airport was originally designed to accommodate 15 million passengers annually — but it routinely sees more than 23 million passengers in a year.
A 2021 Government Accountability Office report found that 88,000 helicopter flights within 30 miles of DCA from 2016-2019, including roughly 33,000 military and 18,00 law enforcement flights, Reuters reports.
Despite its packed flight log, the airport has only three runways. The largest, Runway 1/19, is 7,169 feet long, per the airport's official website. The other two runways are around 2,000 feet shorter than 1/19, leading a large majority of incoming flights to utilize one runway.
No officials have indicated that congestion caused Wednesday's crash.
What we know about the DC plane crash victims
Just last year, Congress approved the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act, which increased the number of flights to and from DCA, despite concerns from political and aviation officials.
Tim Kaine, D-Va., warned of the safety consequences of more congestion while addressing Congress in May 2024.
Kaine's concern came after an incident where two planes nearly collided on a runway, telling lawmakers: 'Thank God a collision and catastrophe was averted. But more and more planes on this busiest runway in the United States is just going to increase the chance of a significant incident.'
Operations at Reagan National Airport have resumed after an American Airlines regional passenger jet carrying 64 people en route from Kansas collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, sending both aircraft into the icy Potomac River near Washington, D.C.
At least 28 bodies had been recovered from the scene Thursday morning. Officials said 27 bodies were recovered from the jet, and one was pulled from the helicopter.
'We don't believe there are any survivors,' D.C. fire and EMS chief John A. Donnelly said Thursday during a news conference.
The midair crash occurred shortly before 9 p.m. local time Wednesday, shutting down the airport until 11 a.m. Thursday. Part of the investigation will revolve around an interaction with air traffic control in the final moments before the collision.
Michael Ramsey, Tom Dempsey and Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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