Topline
An air traffic controller managing helicopter and airplane traffic on the night of the Potomac River mid-air collision in January should have informed the crew of the passenger jet an Army helicopter was heading toward their flight, the FAA said Thursday, acknowledging for the first time a possible control tower era on the night of the collision that killed 67 people.
The collision occurred in January. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Nick Fuller, the FAA’s acting deputy chief operating officer of operations, answered affirmatively when asked by National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy if the controller should have been informed there was a helicopter in its path.
The air traffic controller, who has not been publicly identified, was managing helicopter and airplane traffic the night of the incident, a responsibility that should normally be handled by two controllers between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
A singular controller can take the job of handling both ends of traffic with approval from a superior.
The controller told investigators he was becoming “a little overwhelmed” about 15 minutes before the collision happened but the volume of traffic was “manageable” and he was “fine” with it at the time of the crash.
Clark Allen, the operations manager at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at the time of the incident, commented on the high and unique traffic at the airport, saying controllers were “pushing the line” and that their role “can be taxing on a person, you know, constantly have to give, give, give or a push, push, push in order to efficiently move traffic.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.