美国国家运输安全委员会周二呼吁立即改变罗纳德·里根华盛顿国家机场机场，称繁忙的机场周围目前的直升机航线“对航空安全构成不可容忍的风险”一月份撞车事故的余波导致67人死亡。
NTSB主席珍妮弗·霍曼迪在新闻发布会上说，该委员会建议美国联邦航空管理局永久禁止在里根机场附近使用15号和33号跑道的直升机，并为飞行员指定一条替代的直升机航线。
Homendy宣布后，交通部长Sean Duffy很快表示，交通部将立即遵循NTSB的建议，保持直升机限制，并指出可能会对当前的限制进行一些修改。(达菲在崩盘后实施了临时禁令;该禁令将于3月底到期。)
周二，致命碰撞受害者的家属在一份声明中表示，该报告强调了“航空旅行安全方面的严重系统性失误如何让我们所爱的人付出了生命代价，并继续威胁着公共安全。”
“这不是一个孤立的事件，而是我们航空安全系统更广泛故障的征兆，”声明写道。“如果必要的改革能够更快实施，5342航班很可能已经安全着陆，我们的家人也可以和我们一起回家了。”
在新闻发布会上，Homendy概述了里根总统千钧一发的历史，并表示NTSB将继续调查里根总统和克林顿总统之间的毁灭性事故美国航空公司的飞机和一架美国陆军黑鹰直升机导致两架飞机上的所有人丧生。
事故发生在1月29日晚上，当时PSA航空公司的庞巴迪CRJ700支线飞机从堪萨斯州的威奇托起飞，载有64人，准备在里根机场降落。碰撞发生时，直升机上的三名士兵正在进行年度训练飞行和夜视镜检查。
Homendy说，在2021年10月至2024年12月期间，里根公司进行了944，179次商业运营。她说，在那段时间里，商业飞机和直升机之间发生了15214次近距离事件，横向间距不到1海里，垂直间距不到400英尺。她说，有85起事件的横向间距小于1500英尺，纵向间距小于200英尺。
NTSB在一份声明中说，“4号线直升机走廊上的直升机在200英尺的最大授权高度上，与33号跑道着陆的飞机只能有大约75英尺的垂直间隔”。“垂直间隔甚至可能小于75英尺，这取决于直升机与波托马克河海岸线的横向距离，或者如果正在接近的飞机低于33号跑道的指定目视下滑道。”
Homendy说75英尺是“对航空安全不可容忍的风险”
“这的确让我生气。但这也让我为那些因为失去亲人而悲伤的家庭感到难以置信的崩溃，”Homendy说。“不应该发生这样的悲剧。不幸的是，有人做到了，所以我们呼吁采取行动，但显然有迹象表明安全趋势可能已经发生。”
美国航空公司在一份声明中说，“我们继续哀悼在5342航班悲惨事故中丧生的人。我们感谢国家运输安全委员会紧急安全建议限制DCA附近的直升机交通，并感谢它的彻底调查。”
Homendy说，直升机和商用飞机在里根附近的相遇表明，从2011年到2024年，绝大多数报告的事件都发生在接近着陆的时候。
Homendy说，从2011年到2024年，由于靠近直升机，里根号每月至少触发一次交通警报和防撞系统(TCAS)决议咨询-最严重的警告，告诉飞行员立即采取规避行动以避免碰撞。
Homendy说，在NTSB回顾的超过一半的遭遇中，直升机可能已经超过了高度限制。三分之二的遭遇发生在晚上。
NTSB的调查仍在进行中。Homendy说，NTSB将进行一系列模拟，进行额外的采访，并继续检查无线电高度计，气压高度计和其他电子设备。
在Homendy的新闻发布会后，Duffy周二也向媒体发表了讲话，他批评了FAA和前任政府没有更早地确定热点。
达菲说，美国联邦航空局已经部署了人工智能工具来查看数据，并识别其他机场空域的潜在热点。人工智能技术目前已在12个机场实施，他说美国联邦航空局计划在全国范围内推广这项技术。
“如果有另一个DCA式的情况存在，我们的人工智能工具将帮助我们识别这些情况，并采取先发制人的纠正措施，而不是追溯，”他说。
达菲还进一步讨论了跑道安全和技术的升级。为了加快这一进程，达菲说他将要求国会预先拨款。
Homendy上个月说没有迹象表明直升机机组人员意识到了迫在眉睫的情况。
Homendy说，士兵们可能从他们的高度计上获得了“错误的数据”，因为飞行员在坠机前几秒钟有不同的高度。她指出，一名直升机飞行员认为他们在400英尺，另一名认为他们在300英尺。
NTSB补充说，塔台发出的指示直升机飞到飞机后面的信号可能没有被机组人员听到，因为飞行员可能在同一秒钟键入了她的无线电，并踩下了空中交通管制中心(ATC)的信号。
Homendy说，黑鹰机组人员可能在整个飞行过程中都戴着夜视镜。
DC plane crash: NTSB calls for immediate changes at Reagan airport
The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday called for immediate changes at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, saying the current helicopter routes around the busy airport "pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety" inthe wake of January's collisionthat killed 67 people.
The NTSB is recommending that the Federal Aviation Administration permanently ban helicopter operations near Reagan when runways 15 and 33 are in use and designate an alternative helicopter route for pilots, Chairman Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference.
After Homendy's announcement, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy quickly said the Department of Transportation will immediately follow the NTSB's recommendations and keep helicopter restrictions in place, noting that some modifications might be made to the current restrictions. (Duffy put a temporary ban in place after the crash; that ban was set to expire at the end of March.)
On Tuesday, families of the victims of the deadly collision said in a statement that the report highlights how "serious, systemic failures in air travel safety cost our loved ones their lives and continues to threaten public safety."
"This was not an isolated incident, but a symptom of broader failures in our aviation safety system," the statement read. "If the necessary reforms had been implemented sooner, Flight 5342 likely would have landed safely and our family members would be home with us."
During the new conference, Homendy outlined a history of close calls at Reagan and said the NTSB continues to investigate the devastating crash between anAmerican Airlines plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopterthat killed everyone on board both aircraft.
The crash happened on the night of Jan. 29 when the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board, was about to land at Reagan (DCA). The three soldiers in the helicopter were conducting an annual training flight and night vision goggle check at the time of the collision.
Between October 2021 and December 2024, there were 944,179 commercial operations at Reagan, Homendy said. During that time, there were 15,214 close proximity events between commercial airplanes and helicopters with a lateral separation of less than 1 nautical mile and a vertical separation of less than 400 feet, she said. There were 85 events where the lateral separation was less than 1,500 feet and the vertical separation was less than 200 feet, she said.
Helicopters on "the Route 4 helicopter corridor at the maximum authorized altitude of 200 feet could have only about 75 feet of vertical separation from an airplane on landing approach to Runway 33," the NTSB said in a statement. "Vertical separation could potentially be even less than 75 feet depending on the helicopter's lateral distance from the Potomac River shoreline or if an approaching airplane was below the designated visual glidepath to Runway 33."
Homendy said 75 feet is an "intolerable risk to aviation safety."
"It does make me angry. But it also makes me feel incredibly devastated for families that are grieving because they lost loved ones," Homendy said. "It shouldn't take tragedy like this to occur. Unfortunately, one did, and so we are calling on action, but there clearly were indicators where safety trending could have occurred."
American Airlines said in a statement, "We continue to mourn the lives lost in the tragic accident involving Flight 5342. We’re grateful for the National Transportation Safety Board's urgent safety recommendations to restrict helicopter traffic near DCA and for its thorough investigation."
Encounters between helicopters and commercial aircraft near Reagan show that, from 2011 through 2024, a vast majority of reported events occurred on approach to landing, Homendy said.
At least one Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) resolution advisory -- the most serious warning that tells the pilots to take immediate evasive action to avoid a collision -- was triggered per month at Reagan due to proximity to a helicopter from 2011 to 2024, Homendy said.
In more than half of the encounters the NTSB reviewed, the helicopter may have been flying above the altitude restriction, Homendy said. Two-thirds of the encounters occurred at night.
The NTSB's investigation is ongoing. Homendy said the NTSB will conduct a number of simulations, conduct additional interviews, and continue to examine radio altimeters, barometric altimeters and additional electronics.
After Homendy's news conference, Duffy also addressed the media on Tuesday, and he criticized the FAA and the previous administration for not identifying the hot spots earlier.
The FAA has deployed artificial intelligence tools to look through the data and identify potential hot spots in the airspace at other airports, Duffy said. The AI technology is currently in place at 12 airports, and he said the FAA plans to incorporate it across the country.
"If there's another DCA-esque situation out there, our AI tools will help us identify those and take corrective actions preemptively, as opposed to retroactively," he said.
Duffy also further discussed upgrades that he said will be made to runway safety and technology. To expedite the process, Duffy said he will ask Congress for money up front.
Homendysaid last monththere was no indication the helicopter crew was aware of the impending situation.
The soldiers may have had "bad data" on the altitude from their altimeter, as the pilots had differing altitudes in the seconds before the crash, Homendy said. One helicopter pilot thought they were at 400 feet and the other thought they were at 300 feet, she noted.
The transmission from the tower that instructed the helicopter to go behind the plane may not have been heard by the crew because the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from air traffic control, or ATC, the NTSB added.
The Black Hawk crew was likely wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight, Homendy said.
