Critical Learning From Potomac Midair: Why ADS-B In Is Non-Negotiable

NTSB hearing on tragic collision highlighted numerous issues that different organizations had failed to address over many years.

Max Trescott

Thursday, October 02, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport [Credit: Mark Stebnicki/Pexels]

Key Takeaways:

The midair collision was identified as a systemic failure rather than isolated mistakes, stemming from unaddressed issues like ignored safety recommendations to lower airport arrival rates and a failure to escalate critical concerns.
Contributing factors included most Army Black Hawk helicopters being unable to transmit ADS-B Out signals due to software errors, undocumented altimeter inaccuracies from rotor downwash, and an unsafely close helicopter flight route to the jet arrival corridor.
The regional jet's traffic system lacked advanced ADS-B In capabilities and crucial "relative traffic" features, which the author contends would have provided pilots with clearer, instantaneous indications of a collision course and could have prevented the accident.

See a mistake? Contact us.

I spent three full days listening to the National Transportation Safety Board hearings into the midair collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional jet over the Potomac that killed 67 people. There was over 30 hours of testimony, with the final day wrapping up at 10 p.m..

I then pulled the most interesting audio clips from each day and posted them on my new NTSB News Talk podcast that I cohost.