Some concerning information is now emerging about the air traffic control staffing situation at the airport involved in Wednesday evening’s tragic collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial airliner, after a review of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) internal, preliminary report on the incident near D.C.’s Reagan National Airport.
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Readers may have seen the legacy media’s (and others’) vile attempts to place blame for the airplane-helicopter crash at President Donald Trump’s feet within minutes of the story breaking–something that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy chided reporters over during a Thursday presser Q&A, as my colleague Teri Christoph wrote.
SEE: NTSB Chairwoman Claps Back at Media’s Anti-Trump Spin at Plane Crash Briefing – ‘Give Us Time!’
The New York Times first broke the story on the contents of the early-days report.
At time of crash, one controller was working two tower positions, source says.
Control tower staffing was “NOT NORMAL,” during deadly Crash, F.A.A. Report Says
The Reagan National control tower is ONLY 85 percent staffed, the source said, with 24 of 28 positions filled.
An… pic.twitter.com/SKypqIjvSe
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) January 30, 2025
via the NYT:
Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.
The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.
…
The tower [at Reagan] was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30.
The shortage — caused by years of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.
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A source confirmed some of the frightening facts from the FAA’s findings to CNN:
There was one air traffic controller working two different tower positions at the time of the collision Wednesday night, an air traffic control source tells CNN.
The source describes the set-up, which had one person handling both local and helicopter traffic, as not uncommon.
The ATC source added:
The Reagan National control tower is 85 percent staffed, the source said, with 24 of 28 positions filled.
The White House on Thursday ordered the FAA director and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to begin an immediate assessment of the safety of America’s aviation system, in light of both the crash and the poor management/hiring policy of the two, previous Democrat administrations.
Pres. Trump wrote, in part:
On January 29, 2025, a commercial aircraft and a military helicopter horrifically collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. American families today woke up without their loved ones after what should have been a routine trip, and the entire Nation mourns the loss of the victims.
This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Obama Administration implemented a biographical questionnaire at the FAA to shift the hiring focus away from objective aptitude. During my first term, my Administration raised standards to achieve the highest standards of safety and excellence. But the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous “diversity equity and inclusion” tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with “severe intellectual” disabilities in the FAA.
On my second day in office, I ordered an immediate return to merit-based recruitment, hiring, and promotion, elevating safety and ability as the paramount standard. Yesterday’s devastating accident tragically underscores the need to elevate safety and competence as the priority of the FAA.
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The memo also reaffirmed “Keeping Americans Safe In Aviation” executive order from Jan. 21, the president’s second day in office, which:
ordered an immediate return to merit-based recruitment, hiring, and promotion, elevating safety and ability as the paramount standard. Yesterday’s devastating accident tragically underscores the need to elevate safety and competence as the priority of the FAA.
You can read the full WH memo at the link above. The NYT added that the FAA had not responded to a request for comment.
Since this is a developing story, check back with RedState as we continue to relay updates on this horrific accident. Prayers for all of the people involved, their families, teammates, and friends, and the first responders who are seeking out the answers to some truly difficult questions at this hour.
