Tower Staffing ‘NOT NORMAL’ During DEADLY Crash

News update graphic with world map background.

(DCWatchdog.com) – The deadly collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., has exposed a shocking truth: the air traffic control system is dangerously understaffed.

A bombshell Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report reveals that only one controller was on duty instead of the required two.

This catastrophic failure of government oversight cost 67 innocent lives and raises serious safety questions.

The FAA’s internal report revealed a damning picture of the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport on the night of the crash.

According to the report, staffing levels were “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” with only a single controller on duty instead of the standard two-person team.

This understaffing is not an isolated incident. The FAA report exposed a systemic problem at Reagan National, where only 19 fully trained controllers are on staff instead of the required 30.

This dangerous shortage has forced many controllers to work grueling shifts of up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, potentially compromising their ability to maintain the razor-sharp focus needed to keep skies safe.

The consequences of this government failure were catastrophic. American Airlines Flight 5342, carrying members of the international figure-skating community including former world champions, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter from Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

The helicopter was on what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as an “annual proficiency training flight.”

All 67 souls on board both aircraft are presumed dead, with only 28 bodies recovered so far from the wreckage in the Potomac River.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also addressed the severity of the situation, stating, “Obviously, it is not standard to have aircraft collide. I want to be clear on that.”

President Donald Trump blamed the disaster on the Biden administration’s priorities, emphasizing that he would “put safety first” during his presidency.

The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to recover the flight data recorders from the wreckage, which are currently submerged in the Potomac River.

However, the FAA’s damning report on staffing levels provides clear evidence of the factors that led to this preventable tragedy.

Copyright 2025, DCWatchdog.com