FAA air traffic controller charged with assault for fight in DC airport’s control tower

A Federal Aviation Administration employee at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., was arrested for an alleged physical altercation inside the air traffic control tower, according to reports.

Damon Marsalis Gaines, 38, has reportedly been placed on administrative leave. Gaines faces assault and battery charges in connection with the alleged incident inside the air traffic control tower at the D.C. airport.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been in the headlines for multiple air traffic emergencies.

Politico reported that officers with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority responded to an incident on March 27.

Citing a source, the Daily Mail reported that a couple of on-duty air tower controllers got into a “blazing argument before one threw a punch at the other.”

“By the time the brawling colleagues were separated, there was blood spattered over a control console, according to our insider,” the outlet reported.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confirmed the incident to Fox News.

Details about what triggered the altercation remain unclear.

“The employee is on administrative leave while we investigate the matter,” an FAA spokesperson said.

The union representing air traffic controllers declined to comment.

Gaines did not immediately respond to a request for comment by CNN.

It is not immediately clear if Gaines has an attorney.

You can watch a “CBS Mornings” newscast video of the alleged air traffic control fight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport here.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been in the headlines for multiple air traffic emergencies.

On Saturday, a kite reportedly struck a United Airlines plane while it was approaching the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Last week, a Delta Air Lines plane nearly collided with an Air Force jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

In January, there was a mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines plane just south of Reagan National that killed 67 people — the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 2001.

A recent National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report revealed there were 15,240 “close proximity events” between commercial planes and helicopters near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport between October 2021 and December 2024.

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