The House Oversight Committee is examining the military’s use of airspace near Washington following the deadly midair collision over the Potomac River in January, which is already under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Jan. 29 crash between an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter killed all 67 people on board both aircraft. NTSB investigators said the radio altitude of the helicopter when it collided with the American Airlines flight was 278 feet, above the maximum 200 feet helicopters are permitted to be at on the route it was flying on.
The Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that it would be opening an investigation into the military’s usage of the crowded airspace near the capital city and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. Subcommittee Chairman William Timmons (R-SC) and ranking member Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) sent a joint letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding a briefing on the incident and what steps the Defense Department is taking to prevent it from happening again.
“Washington, D.C.’s airspace is among the most complex and heavily regulated in the nation. [Reagan National Airport] operates within the tightly controlled Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ), making it one of the busiest and most sensitive airspaces in the country,” Timmons and Subramanyam said in the letter.
“DoD plays a critical role in managing and securing this airspace, with military aircraft frequently conducting operations in and around the National Capital Region,” they added.
The plane crash led at least one of the victims’ families to take the first steps toward a lawsuit against the Army and the Federal Aviation Administration last month.
The NTSB revealed its preliminary report into the midair collision earlier this week. The final report will be released once the comprehensive investigation is complete.
As part of the preliminary report, investigators made two urgent safety recommendations regarding helicopter routes near Reagan National Airport. It called on the FAA to “prohibit operations on helicopter Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals” and to create an “alternative helicopter route” for when operations are suspended for Route 4 between those points.