Hearing Reveals Concerns About D.C. Airspace Before Fatal Collision

Local medevac operator says his team is ‘very uncomfortable’ when certain military helicopters are flying.

Zach Vasile

Tuesday, August 05, 2025 at 03:09 PM ET

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Zach Vasile

A U.S. Army Black Hawk flies over Washington, D.C. [Credit: Nicholas Priest/U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

An NTSB hearing investigating a deadly mid-air collision over the Potomac River revealed serious safety concerns about Washington D.C. airspace, including reliance on visual separation and discomfort with certain military helicopter operations.
The accident involved a military Black Hawk flying above its altitude limit with a faulty altimeter, while the FAA acknowledged systemic issues like understaffing, high turnover, and a "make-it-work" mentality among air traffic controllers.
Witnesses stated that air traffic controllers often encourage visual separation, which shifts collision avoidance responsibility to pilots, to manage high traffic volume and complexity, potentially compromising safety.
The NTSB Chairwoman questioned the FAA's transparency during the investigation, noting an instance of an FAA supervisor seemingly pressuring an employee during testimony, and expressed frustration over the FAA's perceived failure to acknowledge safety risks.

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A hearing looking at the deadly collision of an American Airlines passenger jet and a military helicopter over the Potomac River in January unearthed a number of concerns about the safety of the airspace over Washington, D.C., with one witness calling it the “least safe” it has ever been.

The three-day session, organized and headed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), touched on issues with air traffic control (ATC) operations, faulty instruments on military helicopters, and even concerns that the FAA may be holding back what it knows about the events leading up the crash, which killed 67 people.