The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for strict restrictions on helicopter traffic near Ronald Reagan National Airport. This request follows a tragic midair collision that claimed the lives of 67 people, marking the deadliest aviation accident in the United States in over two decades. The catastrophic collision occurred on January 29 near the nation's capital. Following the tragedy, NTSB Chairperson Jennifer Homendy urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose immediate and permanent restrictions on helicopter flights near Reagan Airport when Runway 15/33 is in use. The existing distance allowances between helicopters and planes have been deemed inadequate by the NTSB, with Homendy emphasizing that they pose an "intolerable risk to aviation safety."

Homendy stated that helicopters should be prohibited from operating in the airspace between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge to reduce the chances of midair collisions. She stressed that the current regulations endanger both air traffic and passengers by failing to provide sufficient separation between aircraft types.

Between October 2021 and December 2024, Reagan Airport recorded 944,179 flights with 15,214 instances where commercial airplanes and helicopters passed within dangerously close proximity. These incidents occurred with lateral separation of less than one nautical mile and vertical separation of less than 400 feet. In 85 of those cases, the separation was even smaller, with helicopters and airplanes being less than 1,500 feet apart laterally and less than 200 feet apart vertically.

Following the January 29 incident, the FAA imposed temporary restrictions on helicopter traffic near Reagan Airport. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that these measures will remain in effect permanently based on the NTSB's recommendations. Duffy agreed that helicopters and airplanes should never have been permitted to operate so closely in the Reagan Airport airspace. He remarked that the risk of "threading a needle" with helicopters and commercial planes sharing the same air corridor was a known concern long before the fatal incident occurred.

Aviation safety concerns in this airspace were known for years, according to Tim Lilley, a pilot and father of Sam Lilley, the first officer on the ill-fated American Airlines flight. Lilley claimed that the air traffic patterns around Reagan Airport had been poorly designed for over 25 years and remained unchanged despite safety concerns. Duffy acknowledged that the frequency of helicopter-airplane near collisions at Reagan Airport had been overlooked in previous analyses. The FAA has now implemented artificial intelligence tools designed to sift through air traffic data to identify hot spots in flight patterns that pose risks to safety. Duffy explained that this proactive measure aims to identify potential dangers before they result in catastrophic accidents.

The January 29 collision involved American Airlines Flight 5342, which was nearing the end of its journey from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan Airport. Tragically, the flight collided with a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter conducting a training exercise from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The clear skies that night offered no visual obstructions, yet the collision occurred just three miles from the White House. All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the regional jet, along with everyone on the helicopter, perished in the accident. Among the victims were six individuals associated with the Skating Club of Boston. These victims had traveled to Wichita for the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and had stayed behind to participate in a development camp. The casualties included teenage skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, their mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane, and renowned coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

The Reagan Airport tragedy was part of a concerning string of aviation incidents in early 2025. Just days later, on February 1, an air ambulance crash claimed seven lives in northeast Philadelphia. Shortly after, on February 6, a Bering Air Flight 445 crash killed all ten passengers on board during a flight to Nome, Alaska. On February 17, Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 flipped upside down on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, injuring 18 passengers. Fortunately, no fatalities occurred in that event.

Another frightening incident unfolded on February 25 when a private jet and Southwest Flight 2504 narrowly avoided collision at Chicago's Midway International Airport. Despite these recent incidents, transportation officials maintain that domestic air travel in the United States remains among the safest in the world. Fatal accidents continue to be rare, and authorities emphasize that ongoing safety improvements and data analysis tools will help prevent future tragedies. The FAA’s new reliance on AI-driven data analysis aims to proactively identify potential collision risks at airports like Reagan National, ensuring enhanced safety for all passengers and crew.