By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will hold a Jan. 27 hearing to determine the probable cause of a fatal collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter in January 2025 that killed 67 people.
Last month, the Justice Department said the federal government was liable in the collision. The Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the crash was flying above maximum altitude levels at the time and was not using ADS-B,
or automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, an advanced surveillance technology that transmits an aircraft's location.
The crash over the Potomac River near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years and sparked calls for aviation safety reform. The NTSB said in March that since 2021 there were 15,200 air separation incidents near Reagan between commercial airplanes and helicopters, including 85 close-call events.
Lawmakers from both parties and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have questioned why the Federal Aviation Administration failed to act for years to address close calls involving military helicopters near Washington Reagan National Airport.
The FAA restricted helicopter flights in March after the NTSB said their presence posed an "intolerable risk" to civilian aircraft near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The agency later barred the Army from helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a close call that forced two civilian planes to abort landings.
During a three-day investigative hearing into the crash last year, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy sharply criticized U.S. officials for failing to act before the crash, saying the FAA did not act on warnings from air traffic control staff. An FAA air traffic working group had urged moving helicopter traffic away from Reagan airport and to establish airborne "hot spots" but it was rejected because the issue was "too political.
Last month, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation to toughen military helicopter safety rules and require aircraft operators by the end of 2031 to equip their fleets with ADS-B.
The FAA in April said it was requiring ADS-B use near Reagan National by government helicopters except in cases such as "active national security missions."
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams and Nick Zieminski)
