SpaceX Team Visits Key Air Traffic Command Center in Virginia

President Donald Trump had called for an overhaul of the system after an airliner collided with a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River, killing 67.

An American Airlines Airbus A319 airplane takes off past the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 11, 2023. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

A team from Elon Musk-owned SpaceX visited a federal air traffic control center on Feb. 17 as officials have said they are looking for ways to improve the system after January’s deadly plane crash in Washington.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on social media platform X on the evening of Feb. 17 that a SpaceX team was visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in New Baltimore, Virginia, to “get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools,” and envision a “new, better, modern and safer system.”