One Controller Was Doing Two Jobs On Night of D.C. Plane Crash

Emergency workers recover debris from the Potomac River in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter, as seen from Virginia, U.S., January 30, 2025.
Carlos Barria/Reuters

A preliminary report suggests control tower staffing was inadequate when an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army helicopter, plunging 67 people to their death in the icy Potomac River below.

That assessment was made by the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday, a day after the deadly crash as questions—and conspiracies—swirl about who or what is to blame.

The administration wrote that Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s control tower staffing was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic” it was experiencing just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, reports The New York Times.

Investigators concluded a single person was doing a job meant for two—juggling the duty of monitoring helicopters in the airport’s vicinity as well as guiding planes that were landing and departing from its runways.

The moment an American Airlines flight collided in mid-air with a U.S. Army helicopter on Wednesday evening, as captured by a camera at the Kennedy Center. / Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images
The moment an American Airlines flight collided in mid-air with a U.S. Army helicopter on Wednesday evening, as captured by a camera at the Kennedy Center. / Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images

The findings are seemingly in line with a years-long problem that has plagued the U.S. aviation industry—a shortage of air traffic controllers.

ADVERTISEMENT

The FAA stopped short of blaming the controller—or anyone else—for Wednesday’s tragedy, but the Times noted the double duty of handling choppers and airliner traffic can “increase the workload” and “complicate the job.”

Those two jobs are especially complicated to handle simultaneously because planes and helicopters speak with the tower using different radio frequencies, meaning the pilots do not typically hear each other’s communication.

Audio obtained by the Daily Beast captured communication between the tower and the doomed American Airlines jet—a Bombardier CRJ700 that was arriving from Wichita, Kansas.

The air traffic controller can be heard asking the helicopter, “PAT 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?”

The tower then directed the helicopter to go behind the jet, saying, “PAT 2-5 pass behind the CRJ.”

Rescue boats circle the wreckage of Wednesday’s crash into the Potomac River. No survivors were found. / Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP
Rescue boats circle the wreckage of Wednesday’s crash into the Potomac River. No survivors were found. / Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

Tragedy would strike moments later, with the plane’s radio transponder ending transmission about 2,400 feet short of the runway. In the control tower, a woman can be heard gasping and saying “oh my Go—” before the audio cuts out. Fifteen seconds later, someone radioes in, “Tower, did you see that?”

ADVERTISEMENT

The Times reports that the tower at Reagan airport has been “understaffed for years” and was “nearly a third below targeted staff levels” as of Sept. 2023.

It is unclear if staffing was beefed up in the year-and-a-half since then, but there is no public evidence that suggests there has been a hiring wave to fill in the gaps.

The Times reported most workers at the tower work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.