A US House of Representatives oversight subcommittee has opened an investigation into the military’s use of airspace around Washington DC, following the fatal collision between an American Eagle flight and a Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
The bipartisan panel, led by Chairman William Timmons and ranking member Suhas Subramanyam, will seek to discover what measures the US military are taking to “ensure calamities of this nature do not occur in the future”.
In a letter sent to the Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 13, 2025, the oversight panel requested a member-level briefing to establish a “list of known or suspected failures in operational procedures that led to the incident”.
The panel also requested information regarding the steps the Department of Defense is taking to “ensure military operations do not interfere with the safety of American air travel”.
“Washington D.C.’s airspace is among the most complex and heavily regulated in the nation. DCA operates within the tightly controlled Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ), making it one of the busiest and most sensitive airspaces in the country,” the panel wrote. “DoD plays a critical role in managing and securing this airspace, with military aircraft frequently conducting operations in and around the National Capital Region.”
The panel aired concerns regarding a potential miscommunication between air traffic control and the Black Hawk pilots, and why the helicopter crew were wearing night vision goggles that “may have impaired the pilots’ peripheral vision”.
“As authorities continue to assess the circumstances of the incident, it will be critical to identify any contributing factors and ensure mitigation measures are implemented to enhance future airspace safety. To assist with the Committee’s oversight of this matter, we request a member-level briefing as soon as possible but no later than April 1, 2025,” the panel added.
Separately, US Senators have been increasingly vocal as to why the Black Hawk’s ADS-B was switched off at the time of the crash, although the NTSB has not officially confirmed this fact.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) describes ADS-B is an “advanced surveillance technology that combines an aircraft’s positioning source, aircraft avionics, and a ground infrastructure”.
On March 11, 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published its preliminary report into the crash, in which it confirmed that the “accident helicopter was equipped with a transponder capable of transmitting ADS-B out”.
Military flight crews are not compelled to have an aircraft’s ADS-B switched on in all circumstances.
In the report, the NTSB also issued a recommendation to permanently restrict helicopter operations near DCA when certain runways are in use.
The recommendations included:
- Ban helicopter operations on Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when Runway 15 or Runway 33 is active at DCA.
- Establish an alternative helicopter route that facilitates essential air traffic, including law enforcement activities, Coast Guard patrols, and continuity of government operations, when the segment of Route 4 is closed.
The recommendations were adopted by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The fatal crash occurred on January 29, 2025, at approximately 20:50 local time, when an American Eagle regional jet collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter.
Both aircraft subsequently crashed into the Potomac River, resulting in the loss of all passengers and crew members on board.
