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FAA report reveals control tower was understaffed at the time of DC plane crash

Normally, two controllers handle operations to avoid overload and coordination failures, but in this case, only one was on duty.

A helicopter hovers above the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport searching for survivors of an air crashTing Shen / AFP

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An internal safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revealed that staffing in the control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was "not normal" the night an airliner and an Army helicopter collided, killing more than 60 people.

According to information obtained by The New York Timesstaffing shortages forced a single controller to simultaneously manage aircraft landing and takeoff operations, as well as helicopter traffic. Normally, these tasks are the responsibility of two controllers to avoid work overload and possible coordination failures.

This type of assignment can compromise communication between airplane and helicopter pilots, since they operate on separate radio frequencies. If a single controller handles both operations, pilots may not be able to hear each other, increasing the risk of mid-air incidents.

Shortage of personnel in the control tower

The lack of air traffic controllers at Reagan Airport is not a recent problem. According to the 2023 Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, the tower operated with only 19 fully certified controllers, when the FAA and the controllers' union set a goal of at least 30.
This shortage, the result of years of staff turnover and budget constraints, has led many controllers to work days of up to 10 hours a day and six days a week, increasing pressure on the air traffic control system.

Trump reacts to crash

In his first appearance in the White House press briefing room after the start of his second term, President Donald Trump called the crash a "tragedy of terrible proportions" and assured that his administration will conduct a thorough investigation to shed light on what happened.

During the conference, Trump lashed out at previous Democratic administrations, accusing them of having weakened aviation safety standards in favor of political criteria. "I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first. And they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen, because this was the lowest level. Their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse," he said.

Trump also criticized what he described as a diversity-based approach asserting that "a group within the FAA determined that the workforce was too white, then they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately" he said.

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