# Passenger plane crashes near DC-area’s Reagan Airport {Jan 29, 2025} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [January 30, 2025, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602 "2025-01-30T03:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/245 "2025-02-25T15:39:14Z")
No one goes there any more; it’s too crowded ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/246 "2025-02-27T17:47:53Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > If one root cause of the tragedy was that Reagan is too popular and heavily used for its size and location, this seems like a good first step to dampen that popularity a bit. Hopefully. Substantially nobody among the paying customers pays any attention to safety after the initial media splash. “If it was unsafe it wouldn’t be allowed” is the extent anyone thinks of safety at all. Price and convenience are priorities 1 though 25. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/247 "2025-03-11T21:02:22Z")
> National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy laid out frightening statistics to underscore the danger that has existed for years near Ronald Reagan National Airport and expressed anger that it took a midair collision for it to come to light. > > **In just over three years, she said, there were 85 close calls when a few feet in the wrong direction could have resulted in the same kind of accident that happened on Jan. 29** when the military helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet over the Potomac River as the plane was approaching the airport… > > Under the current practice helicopters and planes can be as close as 75 feet apart from each other during landing, Homendy said. Investigators have identified **15,214 instances of planes getting alerts about helicopters being in close proximity** between October 2021 and December 2024, she said. > **[NTSB urges ban on some helicopter flights at Washington airport where 67...](https://apnews.com/article/dc-crash-investigation-american-airlines-helicopter-ntsb-b78bce07efa055aa6f9c04e580ffe24e)** > > Federal investigators looking for the cause of the January collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people are recommending a ban on some helicopter flights. See these NTSB reports: > **[DCA25MA108%20Prelim.pdf](https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Documents/DCA25MA108%20Prelim.pdf)** > > 1391.72 KB > **[AIR2501.pdf](https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AIR2501.pdf)** > > 804.65 KB ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/248 "2025-03-27T16:47:16Z")
Congressional hearings now taking place: > **[Congress questions the FAA, US Army and NTSB over deadly midair collision in DC](https://apnews.com/article/dc-plane-crash-congress-ntsb-faa-helicopter-e6cabb82fd788039e16ab2af84220712)** > > The head of the National Transportation Safety Board says if investigators were able to quickly find alarming data about the number of close calls in the years before the fatal midair collision over the nation’s capital in January, then aviation... And particularly note: > **The FAA already has pledged to use artificial intelligence** to dig into the millions of reports it collects to see if there are similar safety risks in other cities with heavy helicopter traffic that rival the concerns the National Transportation Safety Board has identified around Washington. Rocheleau said he expects that review to be completed in the next few weeks. This seems weird to me: I would have expected that the pilots and air traffic controllers would already know if there was a problem–so you just ask them. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/249 "2025-03-27T16:54:09Z")
**Can we drop the “(Breaking News)” from the title?** The plane crashed a good while ago. Everytime this thread pops up, I’m half expecting to see ANOTHER plane crash. /rant off ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/250 "2025-03-27T17:27:52Z")
Did you report that suggestion to the moderators? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/251 "2025-03-27T18:01:44Z")
@smithsb , besides reporting to the mods, the date is in the thread title. So you know it is a months old thread. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/252 "2025-03-27T18:17:23Z")
I just got a report, and I’ll change the title. Please notice that it still has a “breaking news” tag, because it remains that kind of thread. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/253 "2025-04-27T17:44:43Z")
While I think this has mostly already been discussed in this thread the New York Times says it has found new details. Perhaps someone can post a gift link. > But The Times found new details that show that the failures were far more complex than previously known. > > The helicopter crew appeared to have made more than one mistake. Not only was the Black Hawk flying too high, but in the final seconds before the crash, its pilot failed to heed a directive from her co-pilot, an Army flight instructor, to change course. > > Radio communications, the tried-and-true means of interaction between controllers and pilots, also broke down. Some of the controller’s instructions were “stepped on” — meaning that they cut out when the helicopter crew pressed a microphone to speak — and important information likely went unheard. > > Technology on the Black Hawk that would have allowed controllers to better track the helicopter was [turned off.](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/us/politics/crash-army-helicopter-tracking.html) Doing so was Army protocol, meant to allow the pilots to practice secretly whisking away a senior government official in an emergency. But at least some experts believe that turning off the system deprived everyone involved of another safeguard. > > The controller also could have done more. Though he had delegated the prime responsibility for evading other air traffic to the Black Hawk crew under visual separation, he continued to monitor the helicopter, as his job required. Yet he did not issue clear, urgent instructions to the Black Hawk to avert the crash, aviation experts say. > > These lapses happened against the backdrop of systemic deficiencies in U.S. aviation. [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/business/dc-plane-crash-reagan-airport.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/business/dc-plane-crash-reagan-airport.html) ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2025, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/254 "2025-04-27T17:55:02Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Times says it has found new details This has been analysed into the ground (I’m not mocking the accident). The Times is not wrong, it’s being dramatic & sensational. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/255 "2025-04-27T18:02:55Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Perhaps someone can post a gift link. Here ya go: [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/business/dc-plane-crash-reagan-airport.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.C08.sQbx.hPJLsX1SvUMr&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/business/dc-plane-crash-reagan-airport.html?unlocked_article_code=1.C08.sQbx.hPJLsX1SvUMr&smid=url-share) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/256 "2025-04-27T19:28:15Z")
Every one of those “details” has been out and well-publicized for about two months. I suppose the “news” is the Times just now noticed the various government press releases this info came from. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/257 "2025-05-04T04:39:12Z")
> Federal investigators have launched a probe after two flights aborted landings at Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday because a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter too close. > > The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that air traffic control told Delta Air Lines Flight 1671, an Airbus A319 that had originated in Orlando, and Republic Airways Flight 5825, an Embraer 170 that had departed from Boston, to perform go-arounds at around 2:30 p.m. due to a priority military air transport helicopter in the vicinity. **US agencies open probe after two Washington flights abort landings due to Army helicopter** [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-investigating-after-two-washington-flights-aborted-landings-due-nearby-2025-05-02/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-investigating-after-two-washington-flights-aborted-landings-due-nearby-2025-05-02/) > A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that according to initial information, the military helicopter was doing an emergency evacuation rehearsal. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/258 "2025-05-04T09:45:24Z")
During the “rehearsal” of an emergency it’s kinda maybe sorta important to, you know, _avoid causing an emergency_ ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/259 "2025-05-04T13:39:37Z")
From the news piece, it would seem that the helo traffic on approach to the Pentagon was ordered a go-around first, and then in turn _that_ caused DCA approach to order the go around of the two commercial flights. So the controllers did what was needed. The article also has some “source” at the FAA talk about “taking the scenic route” but TBF as we’ve read all thru this thread in this airspace there just **are** a number of different _approved_ lanes. Disclosure: I lived for 5 years across I195 from Pentagon/Henderson-Myer and it looked to me like the approach to the heliport either swung around the West side of the Pentagon lot or the East side depending I must suppose on conditions of the day. The pattern coming over the East side is the one that if you swing even a bit too wide or high would put you in the way of DCA traffic. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/260 "2025-05-08T23:08:27Z")
It seems to me if they needed to fly in “DC” they could have done it better in a simulator which would allow them to run it again and again so they could throw everything at the pilot that couldn’t be done on a real flight. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/261 "2025-05-09T14:27:01Z")
You assume the army has super-realistic latest-and-greatest simulators for their helicopters. I don’t know, but I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/262 "2025-07-27T12:47:01Z")
The NTSB is holding a public hearing for 3 days starting July 30. > **[NTSB Releases Agenda for DCA Midair Collision Investigative Hearing](https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/MA20250722.aspx)** It will be livestreamed and a bunch of documents will be released. So hopefully we will get some more information. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/263 "2025-07-27T13:46:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You assume the army has super-realistic latest-and-greatest simulators for their helicopters. I don’t know, but I doubt it And if they did it would probably be only at the aviation school in Alabama, so people actually posted around DC would practice live around DC anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602/264 "2025-07-27T13:54:46Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > The NTSB is holding a public hearing for 3 days starting July 30. A public hearing to investigate a plane crash? Oh good, we’ll find out that the plane crashed when the chemtrail dispenser exploded. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/passenger-plane-crashes-near-dc-area-s-reagan-airport-jan-29-2025/1013602.md?page=14)