15,000 ‘Near-Miss Incidents’ Involving Helicopters and Planes Reported at D.C. Airport Over the Past Three Years – One America News Network
OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:00 PM – Wednesday, March 12, 2025
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has reported that there have been 15,000 “near-miss incidents” involving helicopters and planes at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport over the last three years.
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On Tuesday, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy stated that the helicopter flight paths near Reagan National Airport consistently pose an “unacceptable risk to aviation safety.”
She detailed that more than 15,000 “near-miss” scenarios occurred between October 2021 and December 2024, where helicopters and jets at the airport came within one nautical mile and 400 vertical feet of each other.
“We continue to be concerned about the significant risk of midair collisions at DCA,” Homendy expressed.
“We are advocating for a permanent solution today,” Homendy added, expressing her frustration that action had not been taken sooner to reduce this risk.
The NTSB has urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to prohibit helicopters from operating in the Virginia suburbs near the airport when Runway 15/33 is in use.
Homendy explained to reporters that the current allowable distances between aircraft and helicopters “are inadequate and create an unacceptable risk to aviation safety, increasing the likelihood of a midair collision at DCA.”
“I must emphasize: they pose an unacceptable risk to aviation safety. Therefore, we are recommending today that the FAA permanently ban helicopter flights … between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge,” she stated.
A Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional flight arriving from Wichita, Kansas, on January 29th, during a training mission, resulting in the deaths of all 64 passengers on the aircraft and three crew members in the helicopter.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
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