60 Minutes obtains documents showing close calls one day before D.C. midair collision
In a Nutshell
**60 Minutes** reveals documents showing two near mid-air collisions between passenger jets and Army helicopters at Reagan National Airport (DCA) just one day before the fatal 2023 crash of American Airlines **Flight 5342** into a Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac, killing 67, amid 85 reported close calls from 2021-2024. Air traffic controllers had warned the FAA for years about DCA's overloaded airspace, non-parallel runways, risky "squeeze play" operations, and poor helicopter routes allowing just 75 feet of separation, exacerbated by night vision goggles limiting pilots' visibility. The NTSB cited systemic failures, issued 50 recommendations including banning visual separation, and urged Congress and the FAA to act on surveillance tech before another disaster, as post-crash incidents persist.
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It was a week of chaos at airports across the country. Gridlock in Washington left TSA workers without pay, triggering 4-hour security lines in some of the nation's busiest airports. Last Sunday, a commercial jet crashed into a fire truck while landing on a runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport. Dozens were injured and two pilots were killed. Authorities are investigating, but the air traffic controller on duty said they were dealing with an earlier emergency and soon after the accident said, "I messed up." It is a chilling reminder of just how thin our aviation system is stretched. Last year, American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River near DC, the deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.
Tonight, you will hear from an air traffic controller who was inside the tower the day of that collision. She tells why controllers at Washington's busiest airport have been warning of danger for years. It is a story of a system pushed to the breaking point and the shattered families left to pick up the pieces. In southern Maryland, seven widows whose husbands were on Flight 5342 agreed to share their story together for the first time. The men, all work buddies, met up with friends in Kansas for a week of duck hunting. The women shared photos of the excitement their husbands felt leading up to the trip.
Alex got home from work and he was like, "Before you say anything, it's already paid for." So I was like, "When do you leave?" Like there was no asking any more questions. He was so excited to go. Like it literally looked like Christmas morning in his face.
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