6 Takeaways From the NTSB’s Reports on Deadly Midair Collision Near Washington

‘We remain concerned about the significant potential for a future mid-air collision at DCA,’ NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said.

A crane offloads a piece of wreckage from a salvage vessel onto a flatbed truck, near the wreckage site in the Potomac River of a midair collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 5, 2025. Ben Curtis/AP Photo

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released two reports on March 11 on the deadly midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet in late January that led to 67 deaths.

One report details the agency’s preliminary findings about the crash, and the other offers safety recommendations for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the potential for midair collisions between traffic on helicopter Route 4 and airplanes landing on runway 33 or departing runway 15 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the airspace where the crash occurred.