NTSB calls for ban on some helicopter routes near Reagan Airport after midair collision that killed 67 people

NTSB Board Chair Jennifer Homendy called the location of helicopter Route 4 and the final approach path to DCA runway 33 "an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chance of a midair collision."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday said the temporary ban on helicopters near the airport would continue. 

"How did the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) not know," Duffy asked about the flow of helicopters near the airport. 

Homendy said that currently helicopters and planes can be as close as 75 feet apart during landing. Between October 2021 and December 2024, 15,214 instances of planes getting alerts about helicopters in close proximity were identified, investigators said.

In its recommendations, the NTSB said it identified risks of midair collisions between helicopters and airplane traffic using runways 15 and 33 at the airport. 

The agency recommended that helicopter operations be prohibited on Route 4 between Hains Point and Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are in use and to designate an alternative helicopter route when Route 4 is closed. 

The collision likely occurred at an altitude of nearly 300 feet as the plane descended toward the helicopter, which was well above its 200-foot limit for that location, the Associated Press reported.

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation's capital.