Skip to main content
Partly Cloudy icon
53º

‘No excuse for this’: Aviation expert criticizes FAA traffic control for failing to prevent tragic DC plane crash

A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday while approaching the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington.

The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River. Despite overnight rescue efforts, officials announced Thursday morning that they had found no survivors.

Aviation Expert Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, criticized the FAA Air Traffic Control System for failing to prevent the incident.

“What is wrong is we have an air traffic control system that didn’t work. There’s no excuse for this. We had two airplanes very close together that collided. We have a system that should have provided safety for that. It did not.”

Boyd said the helicopter should not have been in the area, and he’s calling for harsher consequences, after a year of near-misses.

“What we have is both airplanes with the airliner was on the right path. It’s being guided to the runway. It was 300 feet off the ground. The helicopter is being guided by somebody else. And the fact is, a helicopter should not have been there at all,” Boyd said. “We gotta fix the FAA Air Traffic Control System. And that’s the bottom line of the whole thing.”

RELATED | Ormond Beach man among victims in tragic American Airlines crash with Army helicopter

National Transportation Safety Board investigators have a “Go Team” already on the ground investigating. Everyone wants to know how this happened.

There are few clues, but the reality is it will be some time before we have answers.

One big clue is audio from LiveATC.net, a respected source for in-flight recording. It captured the final communications between the three crew members of the helicopter -- call sign PAT25 -- before it collided with the jet.

Here’s that conversation:

“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? (CRJ is Canadian Regional Jet – The American Airlines Plane) PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller said at 8:47 p.m. on Wednesday.

Seconds later, another aircraft called in to air traffic control, saying, “Tower, did you see that?” apparently referring to the crash.

“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into 3-3. We’re going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future,” another controller remarked.

“Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” a third air traffic controller can be heard saying.

MORE | 14 from figure skating community killed in plane crash, six of them from Boston club | Trump blames diversity hiring as probe into deadly midair collision begins

“It was probably out in the middle of the river,” the controller said. “I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit.”

News4JAX aviation expert Ed Booth joined us on The Morning Show to address the unanswered questions and video that appears to show the midair collision.

Booth also said questions will be raised about air traffic control and communication and whether the pilots saw each other and had proper awareness.

According to FAA data, there were a total of 1,757 near-collisions both in the air and on American runways in 2024.

This spike in near-miss events prompted the FAA to create a safety review committee to comb through data and look at flying trends.

As a result, the FAA created a new protocol called “Airport Surface Safety.”

According to U.S. Department of Transportation Data from 2023:

  • 60% of the near misses were the result of pilot deviation
  • Roughly 20% were due to air traffic controller actions or inactions
  • The other 20% were due to pedestrian or vehicle deviations.

About the Author
Bruce Hamilton headshot

This Emmy Award-winning television, radio and newspaper journalist has anchored The Morning Show for 18 years.