After deadly midair collision over Potomac, NTSB wants helicopter ban near D.C.'s Reagan Airport

NBC News

11-03-2025

The NTSB wants to severely restrict helicopter traffic near Ronald Reagan National Airport, officials said Tuesday, in the wake of a catastrophic midair collision that killed 67 people.
The Jan. 29 tragedy near the nation's capital marked the deadliest such U.S. air crash in more than 20 years, and NTSB Chairperson Jennifer Homendy called on the FAA to enact immediate restrictions.
The existing allowable distances between planes and helicopters "are insufficient and pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chances of a midair collision at DCA," Homendy told reporters.
"Let me repeat: That they pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety. We're therefore recommending today that the FAA permanently prohibit operations on helicopters ... between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge," she added.
American Airlines Flight 5342, carrying 60 passengers and four crew on board, was minutes away from completing its journey from Wichita, Kansas, to DCA.
That's when it collided with a UH-60 Black Hawk, which was on a training exercise out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The skies were clear that Wednesday night just 3 miles south of the White House.
Everyone on both the regional jet and helicopter were killed.
The victims included six people affiliated with the Skating Club of Boston, who had been in Wichita for the previous weekend's 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
That party had stayed behind in Wichita for a development camp targeting up-and-coming U.S. competitors.
Teenage figure skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, their mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane, and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also killed in the crash.
The DCA disaster was among several high-profile aviation incidents in North America.
Seven people were killed on Feb. 1 when an air ambulance crashed in northeast Philadelphia.
Bering Air Flight 445 crashed on its way to Nome, Alaska on Feb. 6, killing all 10 on board.
Eighteen people were injured, but none killed, on Feb. 17 when Delta Air Lines Flight 4819, from Minneapolis, flipped upside down on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
A private jet and Southwest Flight 2504 nearly collided at Midway International Airport on Feb. 25.
Despite this recent spate of scary airline incidents, transportation officials insist that domestic flying is as safe as it's ever been with fatal crashes a rarity.