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Only 1 air traffic control worker was managing helicopters and planes, doing the job of two people

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Understaffed traffic control tower likely contributed to AA mid-air collision after one air traffic control worker was forced to manage 'complicated' tasks normally meant for two workers.
Understaffed traffic control tower likely contributed to AA mid-air collision after one air traffic control worker was forced to manage 'complicated' tasks normally meant for two workers.
Understaffed traffic control tower likely contributed to AA mid-air collision after one air traffic control worker was forced to manage 'complicated' tasks normally meant for two workers.
Understaffed traffic control tower likely contributed to AA mid-air collision after one air traffic control worker was forced to manage ‘complicated’ tasks normally meant for two workers.

Understaffed traffic control tower may have contributed to American Airlines mid-air collision with military helicopter, as one air traffic control worker was forced to perform the ‘complicated’ task of managing incoming passenger plane and Black Hawk chopper amid chronic worker shortages according to preliminary FAA report into cause of mid-air collision that killed 67. 

In a job normally handled by two people, only one air traffic control worker was managing the helicopters and planes from the Reagan National Airport tower at the time of Wednesday night’s deadly collision that killed all 64 on board an American Airlines passenger plane and three on board the military chopper.

The task of managing the incoming American Airlines passenger jet and the Black Hawk military helicopter during a routine training mission was left to only one air traffic control worker on the evening of the crash, as authorities have now been forced to admit the control tower was understaffed.

Only 19 airport control workers man busy D.C airport despite FAA recommendation of minimum 30 staff

According to a source, managing the helicopters and planes are two jobs before 9:30 p.m. but a supervisor combined them early, the nytimes reported.

Air traffic control staff numbers at Reagan National Airport was ‘not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’ and controllers were more overworked than usual according to sources cited in the nytimes report.

While chronic understaffing at air traffic control towers is nothing new, with well-known causes including high turnover, chronic stress, burn out and budget cuts. Only 19 controllers have been employed at DC in 2023 – Controllers frequently work 10-hour days, six days a week, to fill the void.

The facility should have had 30 on deck, as per the goal set by the FAA and controller’s union.

A preliminary FAA crash report detailed that the lack of staff meant the controller monitoring and directing helicopters near DCA was also instructing planes landing and departing on the runways.

Usually, two controllers would handle these roles, as staff use two different radio frequencies to talk to planes and helicopter pilots.

A failure to address real underlying reasons behind chronic airport control towers across the U.S

While the controller is talking to them, the pilots of each aircraft may not be able hear each other.

Sixty passengers, four crew, and three US Army personnel are believed to be dead after the mid-air collision 400ft over the Potomac River.

The American Airlines plane smashed into a US Army Black Hawk helicopter as it came into land at Reagan National Airport just before 9pm on Wednesday. 

The collision has led to investigators citing likely helicopter pilot error, with military aviation officials insisting that all three crew members were highly proficient and experienced and had undertaken the route many times.

Going on his Truth Social media platform, President Donald Trump on Thursday faulted the helicopter pilots, stating that they ‘should have seen where they were going’ along with faulting the chopper for failing to make necessary adjustments. Furthermore, Trump suggested that the control tower had failed to redirect the helicopter after it had strayed into the plane’s path.

‘The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn,’ he wrote on Truth Social‘Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane.’

Multiple federal agencies have now launched an investigation into how the aircraft came into contact so close to one of the busiest transport hubs in the country. The crash has put focus on why the ‘busy’ air traffic control tower continues to be routinely understaffed amid claims of ongoing budget cuts.

Underscoring the seriousness of staffing levels and the further straining of resources comes off the heels of newly incoming President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze, his gutting of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and the FAA chief’s resignation at Elon Musk’s behest.

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