Worries over military chopper routes, FAA staffing levels emerge as factors in midair crash inquiry

By JOSH FUNK
AP Transportation Writer

Long-standing concerns about military helicopters flying in crowded airspace and worries over short staffing among federal aviation workers emerged Thursday as key factors in investigators’ inquiry into the fatal midair crash between an Army helicopter and a commercial airliner earlier this year.

During the second of three days of witness testimony and public inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board into the January midair crash over the Potomac River, the board focused on air traffic control.

The NTSB heard Thursday it was common for pilots to ask to use visual separation — basically relying on their eyesight — just as the Army Black Hawk’s pilot agreed to do the night of the crash. FAA officials also said controllers relied heavily on pilots using visual separation as a way to manage the complex airspace with so many helicopters flying around Washington D.C.

But Rick Dressler, an official with medevac operator Metro Aviation, told the board it is difficult to identify other aircraft in the night sky around Ronald Reagan National Airport, especially if an onboard locator system was switched off, as Army choppers routinely did.

Dressler said he and other civilian helicopter pilots have long been concerned about helicopters that units of the Army and Air Force fly around Reagan airport.

“We are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating,” said Dressler, a former Army aviator and retired Air Force officer.

The Department of Defense referred questions about Thursday’s testimony to the Army, which did not immediately respond. Army officials at the hearing did ask Dressler to elaborate on his concerns and consider visiting the Pentagon to share them.

Dressel said part of what worries him is the relative lack of experience of the military pilots who may have only been in the area a short time and don’t understand everything about the complex airspace around Washington D.C.

Dressler said there are “some gross misunderstandings of the airspace” and military members don’t get the chance to know the area nearly as well because they may not have been based there very long. Plus, military pilots tend to have much less flying experience overall.

“They don’t get the seasoning here to really, truly understand how the airspace works,” said Dressel, who also complained that the Army helicopter unit no longer participates in regular meetings with all the other aviators in the area to discuss issues.

The Air Force did not immediately respond to questions about Dressler’s remarks.

The American Airlines jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas, carrying, among others, a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches, and four union steamfitters from the Washington area.

The collision was the nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001 and was the first in a string of crashes and near misses this year, despite statistics that still show flying remains the safest form of transportation.

It’s too early for the board to identify what exactly caused the crash. The board’s final report won’t be released until sometime next year.

Staffing worries

James Jarvis helped evaluate Reagan airport operations for several years. During a 2022 evaluation, he said the airport was so far out of compliance on 33 items that the audit was stopped to help the facility identify where to improve, and eventually he was assigned to work with the staff at Reagan on a regular basis.

Jarvis said he was concerned about staffing levels, particularly the lack of support staff who helped air traffic controllers focus on what they needed to. And he said controller staffing levels were always on the low side. So he would often raise staffing concerns.

“At one point I was told to quit bringing it up,” said Jarvis, who works for FAA contractor Leidos.

Then Jarvis said that in 2023 he was suddenly reassigned from his duties helping Reagan airport improve with no explanation, and ever since then he “watched the facility backslide.”

“We all felt like we finally had a good connection and we were moving the needle. And for us to stop moving that needle all of a sudden for no reason wasn’t a good move. It was a bad decision,” Jarvis said.

In response to Jarvis’ comments, the FAA said in a statement that it has “supercharged the air traffic controller hiring pipeline – shaving months off the process and incentivizing new recruits with bonuses, which resulted in the busiest July in FAA Academy’s history.”

The air traffic controller overseeing traffic during the collision said the volume ranked at four on a five-point scale. But the person said the situation was only moderately complex and became less demanding as more flights left.

The controller, whose name and gender were redacted from an interview transcript, said the airport normally has a controller dedicated to directing helicopters during certain hours. But the controller was handling both airplanes and helicopters that night.

“I was fine working it combined,” the person said. “There was one point that I thought about asking for (backup), but it was — as soon as I was thinking about it, you know, I got rid of a few helicopters. … So it was a little complex, but it was manageable for me.”

Final moments on Black Hawk

Communications aboard the helicopter were also released.

The Black Hawk pilots told the controller twice the plane was in sight and they would maintain proper distance. But when the controller instructed the pilots to “pass behind” the jet, the crew didn’t hear that instruction because the helicopter’s microphone key was pressed at that moment.

Just before the collision the helicopter’s instructor pilot asked the pilot to come left. But it wasn’t clear if the pilot had time to maneuver.

“Kinda come left for me ma’am,” the instructor said.

The pilot responded: “Sure.”

Listen to the controllers

Bryan Lehman, who has worked for the FAA for more than 35 years, said during Thursday’s hearings that the agency must do better at listening to safety concerns.

Lehman, who works at a regional radar facility that directs planes into the D.C. area, said he sent a detailed memo in 2023 urging the FAA to reduce flights at Reagan airport. But Lehman said the issue was dropped.

Most of the FAA officials testifying Thursday agreed that the agency needs to do a better job of listening to its controllers about their concerns and ideas.

Ben Shtuhl, whose longtime girlfriend Melissa Nicandri was on the passenger jet, hopes the hearings will lead to accountability and meaningful reforms. But he sensed a lack of urgency, particularly from the FAA, after hearing about how it took six months for the agency to give the NTSB some information investigators requested. And a new traffic management system the FAA plans to install at Reagan won’t be ready until sometime in February or March — more than a year after the crash.

“We would think with a catastrophe like this that it would be kind of all hands on deck and that they would try to break the red tape and try to be proactive,” Shtuhl said.

Concern about distances between planes and helicopters

John Cox, an aviation safety expert and retired airline pilot, said the hearings are headed in the right direction to determine what happened and to prevent similar accidents.

His main concerns focus on the Black Hawk, including why it was above a 200-feet (60-meter) elevation limit. Another question is why it wasn’t closer to the east bank of the river and further away from landing airplanes.

“I’ve passed helicopters underneath me over the east bank of the Potomac a lot of times,” said Cox, who flew commercial airliners for 25 years. “And there’s always been plenty of separation. It’s not a lot because the space is so constrained. But you’re dealing with professional pilots and it’s not been a problem.”

___

Associated Press writers David Klepper, Mike Catalini, and Ben Finley contributed to this story.