Eerie report warned of ‘catastrophic’ crash risk 3 years before DC tragedy amid claims control tower was ‘short staffed’
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OVERWORKED air traffic controllers issued eerie warnings of "catastrophic" crash risks for years before an explosive mid-air massacre claimed 67 lives.
An American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk in Washington DC on Wednesday evening, fulfilling the dark predictions of FAA workers who internally reported dozens of near misses and warned a fatal crash was only a matter of time.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said an "elevation mistake" saw the US Army-operated helicopter flying into the pathway of the plane during a training exercise.
The plane, which was coming from Wichita, Kansas, shattered into three pieces and sank under the ice-cold river waters before 9 pm. No one survived the tragedy.
This is the deadliest US air crash since November 2001, when 260 people died after an American Airlines plane plunged into a Queens neighborhood.
Some of the victims include teenage ice skaters, world-class athletes, and a crew of seven outdoor-loving family men who were traveling for a hunting trip.
Hours after the crash, a damning report surfaced that lifted the lid on the chaos inside Reagan Airport's control tower.
According to the internal report, staffing was "not normal" at the time of the crash, as the controller was doing the jobs of two people, The New York Times reported.
The controller was responsible for navigating helicopters in the area while also directing planes that were landing and departing from the Washington DC runways - duties normally performed by separate controllers because helicopters and planes use different radio frequencies.
Reagan Airport hasn't had a full staff of air traffic controllers for years, employing only 19 instead of the 30-person target as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan.
This isn't a unique issue, either. Most airports across the country have struggled to fulfill their quotas.
Air traffic controllers have been overworked for years. Many have been pushed to the brink with grueling hours, only to be punished for finally breaking under the pressure.
In 2023, it was revealed that several controllers had been fired for being drunk, asleep, or high in the tower as the Federal Aviation Association struggled to find suitable talent to fill the empty slots.
At the time, desperate controllers wrote the FAA for help and warned of imminent danger looming on the horizon.
"Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme," one person wrote in a report seen by The New York Times.
"The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take."
In a now-disturbing comment, another person wrote, "Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?"
When asked about the details of the crash, National Transporation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said they are looking at every possible element.
"As part of any investigation, we look at the human, the machine, and the environment," she said in a briefing.
"So we will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident. We will look at the helicopter.
"We will look at the environment in which they were operating in. That is standard in any part of our investigation."
Furious President Donald Trump blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion policies for causing air traffic control issues in a fiery press conference.
He pointed to another grim report highlighting how the FAA was looking to hire people with disabilities, including "vision, severe intellectual disability, and complete paralysis."
"This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions," he said.
"The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's website.
"We have to have our smartest people [...] They have to be naturally talented geniuses."
Ice skaters Spencer Lane, 16, and Jinna Han, 13, died in the crash alongside their mothers after traveling to Wichita for the US National Championships.
Lane's coaches, Russian natives Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also on the plane when it plummeted into the waters.
The skating pros, who were married, won a world championship in 1994. They had a son, Makim, who wasn't on the flight.
A crew of seven outdoor-loving friends who traveled to Kansas for a hunting trip were also on the plane.
And a woman who was flying to meet her husband died minutes after sending a now-tragic text message.
A mid-air collision between American Airlines flight 5342 and a military helicopter on January 29, 2025, left dozens presumed dead. The victims include: