Washington mid-air collision: Air traffic controller at Reagan Airport left work early, report says

A supervisor reportedly allowed the air traffic controller to end shift early, leaving only one controller to handle both plane and helicopter traffic.

A supervisor allegedly allowed an aircraft traffic controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to leave early, hours before a fatal, mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter of the US Army and an American Airlines passenger aircraft on Wednesday.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JANUARY 31: Members of the Alexandria Fire Department looks for debris near the crash site of the American Airlines plane along the shoreline of the Potomac River on January 31, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The supervisor's action meant only a single air traffic controller was managing both plane and helicopter traffic when there should have been two people monitoring the flight paths, the report said.

The two aircraft plunged into the icy Potomac river shortly before 9 pm local time (Thursday, 7:30 am IST). All 64 passengers on the American Airlines regional jet and the three soldiers on the Black Hawk, are presumed dead.

‘One controller was doing job of two’

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has confirmed in a preliminary report that a supervisor merged the jobs of handling planes and helicopters before the allotted changeover time, resulting in one controller performing the duties of two persons, according to a report in The New York Times.

Airplane and helicopter movement is handled by two controllers till 9:30 pm, it added.

‘Helicopter may have been flying too hgh’

Separately The New York Times also reported that the Black Hawk may have been flying too high, and away from its approved flight path when it collided with the American Airlines plane.

The military chopper was above 300 feet when it should have been below 200 feet, according to briefed on the matter.

Additionally, it was at least half a mile off the approved flight path when it smashed into the American Airlines passenger jet.