Audit Questions Thousands of Close Calls That Were Ignored Leading Up to January 29

The US Department of Transportation’s inspector general recently launched a formal investigation into the FAA’s handling of air traffic control in the notoriously congested Washington, DC airspace. This (arguably, long-overdue) scrutiny follows the January 29 midair collision that killed 67 people.

The move comes after mounting bipartisan pressure, scathing National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings, and more than a few raised eyebrows over the fact that so many warnings slid under the FAA’s radar.

The collision involved was between an Army UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342. It occurred despite repeated appeals from FAA air traffic personnel for increased staffing, adjusted helicopter routes, and other safety measures. According to testimony, these requests were routinely ignored or rejected… consistently forcing pilots to operate in a high-risk environment that officials now admit could have been improved.

The focal points of the audit are the FAA’s management of flight routes around Reagan National Airport, its exemption policies for real-time aircraft tracking, and its oversight of both civilian and military traffic. There is already crystal-clear evidence of regulatory lapses; the Army Black Hawk involved in the crash had an inoperative ADS-B Out tracking system... as did half of the helicopters in its unit.

Senator Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, summed it up bluntly: “The F.A.A. ignored over 15,000 dangerous helicopter incidents and allowed military aircraft to fly without critical safety equipment in DCA’s congested airspace.”

Lawmakers have demanded cooperation from the Army, expecting the branch’s own inspector general to conduct a parallel investigation that studies military coordination with the FAA, pilot training standards, and near-miss incident reporting. So far, the Army has remained silent on whether it will comply, earning criticism from victims’ families, who have publicly called for a transparent review rather than “incremental or closed-door adjustments.”

The FAA, for its part, says it is hiring more controllers, revising helicopter routes, and limiting the number of non-tracked flights in the area, except for specific VIP or security missions. Whether those changes will be enough, or even fast enough, is left up to the inspector general’s audit.

FMI: www.faa.gov