![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/By-Andrew-Carswell.avif\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nFloridians woke up to horrific news this morning, as we learned about a tragic midair collision that occurred near Washington, D.C., at Ronald Reagan National Airport, involving an American Airlines passenger plane and a U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
67 people are dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American Airlines passenger plane was arriving to Washington from Wichita, Kansas, and the Black Hawk helicopter was engaged in a training exercise. The accident resulted in the deaths of all individuals on board both aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident took place just before 9 p.m. EST, over the Potomac River, causing both the airplane and the helicopter to crash into the freezing cold water. Emergency teams have recovered 27 bodies from the passenger plane and all three from the helicopter, with no survivors expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From all reports, conditions were clear at the time of the crash, and both aircraft were in routine flight patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Families around the world are grieving today, and many of the victims had deep ties to the ice skating community. Many on board were returning from the U.S. figure skating championships, which was held in Wichita, Kansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the list of reported victims is a pair of former Russian figure skating champions, as well as popular U.S. skaters Jinna Han, Spencer Lane, both of their mothers, and their coaches. Lane and Han were 16 and 13 years old, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are underway to determine the cause of the collision. President Trump has been briefed and is closely monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has faced chronic issues, due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, with fatigue being a widely recognized factor that could contribute to errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following several widely reported near-misses involving planes under air traffic control guidance, the FAA announced last summer that it would increase the minimum rest periods for controllers starting this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under an agreement with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, controllers are now required to have at least 10 hours off between shifts, 12 hours off before and after a midnight shift, and limits on consecutive overtime assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although former FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker stated in September that the agency had reached its goal of hiring 1,800 controllers for 2024, airline executives anticipated that staffing shortages would remain an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the cause of Wednesday night\u2019s crash is still under investigation, a preliminary FAA report obtained by The Associated Press revealed that one air traffic controller was handling two positions at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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