A preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration found that the air traffic control tower was understaffed at the time of the devastating collision between a helicopter and a passenger plane in Washington, D.C.
67 people were killed after an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into a passenger plane that was approaching the Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening. The plane broke apart and ended up in the Potomac River, where recovery efforts are still under way.
Normally two controllers would handle helicopters in the vicinity as well as the planes departing and landing.
The internal preliminary report said that the traffic control tower would usually have two controllers to handle the duties at the busy airport, but the tower had only had one controller at the time of the crash.
The staffing was determined to be “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to the report reviewed by the New York Times. Normally two controllers would handle helicopters in the vicinity as well as the planes departing from and landing on the airport’s runways.
The Times also said that the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for many years, with only 19 fully certified controllers when there should be 30.
Some have speculated that the crash was intentional because of a video that captured the collision, but so far officials have resisted making statements about the cause of the disaster.
The FAA said the plane took off from Wichita, Kansas, and was carrying members of the U.S. Figure Skating team. The Pentagon said the helicopter took off from Ford Belvoir, Virginia, on a training flight and carried three service members.
In July, the FAA said that it was dealing with a shortage of air traffic controllers even as the demand has grown.
“This clearly is a tragedy that will change aviation,” said CNN’s Pete Muntean of the Reagan airport crash. “This is really staggering that this is happening.”
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