According to an internal initial report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the number of employees working in the Air Monitoring Tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia“It is not normal for the time of today and the volume of traffic.”
On Wednesday night, a US Airlines A helicopter collided with the plane and the army near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC, and all of them are supposed to be 67 people on the plane had died.
the Associated Press I got a report showing the air traffic controller who was working on two situation at the time of the accident.
The duty is usually divided between air traffic control units, not only.
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General view of the Rigan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on Thursday, January 30, 2025. The US Airways flight from Whitchta collided with the Black Hawk helicopter while approaching the airport to land last night. (Lee Green in favor of Fox News Digital)
“The formation of the situation was not normal for today and the volume of traffic,” the report says.
FAA immediately did not respond to Fox News Digital questions and asked to comment on the matter.
Air Monitoring Tower at Reagan Airport for years with fully accredited console units as of September 2023. However, the employment targets set by FAA and the Federation's control union for 30.
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Emergency response units evaluate the wreckage of the Botomac River near the Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025, in Arlington, Virginia. An American flight from Whitchita, as a helicopter, has collided with Ronald Reagan's National Airport. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
FAA air traffic controller is not new to Ragan National or most of the country's air traffic control facilities.
Last year, the CEO of Frontier Airlines Barry Biffle appeared on “The Campan Countdown” of the Fox Business Network and warned that the shortage may cause problems during the summer season if it is not treated.
BifFle explained that although technology can help address the problem while enhancing more efficiency in long -term air travel, the lack of air traffic control contributes to delay and cancellation.
Rescuers on a boat next to the Black Hawk helicopter wrecking at the site of the accident after the 5342 American Eagle Termic, which was approaching Reagan Washington National Airport, crashed into the Botomac River, outside Washington, United States, January 30, 2025. (Kevin Lamark/Reuters)
“There are opportunities to improve technology that is a type of spine for air control,” said Bever. “If you look at Europe, for example, there are some opportunities that we can build here and that will be more efficient – will burn a lot of fuel, get there faster and so on. This is a great opportunity.
“At the same time, it does not deny the problem that I think we are 3000 short control units at the present time. That is why it only causes, when you have a weather event, it causes more delay,” he explained. , These delays turn into a cancellation because the crews that took place and so on. (I) He really wants to see the recruitment is fixed. Technology may be a longer solution. “
the FAA The Safety Review Team was created in the field of national airspace (NAS) in April 2023 in the aftermath of many of the inconsistencies of the nearby runway during takeoff or landing at crowded airports, that year decides that the approval of many challenges such as the crisis of air traffic monitoring employees, insufficient financing and technology Pardoned “results from the erosion of safety margins that must be treated quickly.”
“The current erosion in the safety margin of people caused by the meeting of these challenges makes the current level of safety not sustainable,” the team's report said.
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The reason for the shortage is to the rotation of employees and other factors such as narrow budgets, and in the end, it has led to many control units for 10 hours and six days a week, the Times said.
Louis Cassiano of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
