Control tower staffing was “not normal” at the time of the country's worst aviation disaster in a generation.
One air traffic controller was doing work normally assigned to two people in the tower at Reagan National when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration obtained by The Associated Press.
“The position configuration was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” the report said.
Sixty-seven people died after the American Eagle passenger jet and Black Hawk military helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.
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The collision was the deadliest U.S. air crash since 2001.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas.
A top Army aviation official said the Black Hawk crew was “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying that occurs daily around Washington.
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“Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn’t something new to either one of them,” said Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation. “Even the crew chief in the back has been in the unit for a very long time, very familiar with the area, very familiar with the routing structure.”
The helicopter's maximum allowed altitude at the time of the crash was 200 feet above ground, Koziol said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that elevation seemed to be a factor in the collision.
But Koziol said investigators need to analyze the flight data before making conclusions about altitude.
