Plane crash: 'Control tower staffing level was not normal' on day of disaster says report

A preliminary information study recovered that a azygous controller was liable for some managing helicopters successful the airport's vicinity and directing arriving and departing planes

Staffing levels astatine the aerial postulation power operation astatine Ronald Reagan National Airport were "not mean for the clip of time and measurement of traffic," according to a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information study connected the mid-air collision.

Sixty-seven radical are believed to person died successful the crash, which occurred portion an American Airlines formation from Wichita, Kansas, was landing astatine Washington Reagan National Airport. So far, 28 bodies, including those of 3 Army soldiers, person been recovered.

Officials person not established the crushed for the collision and investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, archetypal responders are inactive trying to retrieve bodies from the Potomac River.

According to a preliminary study seen by The New York Times, a azygous controller was liable for some managing helicopters successful the airport's vicinity and directing arriving and departing planes astatine the clip of the crash. Such duties are typically handled by 2 abstracted controllers.

Aviation lawyer Robert Clifford, who has been progressive successful galore hose catastrophe cases including the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, said the Department of Transportation, the Defence Department and the FAA should telephone for an immediate, impermanent halt to each subject helicopters successful the airspace utilized by commercialized airlines going into Reagan. "I can't get implicit however stunningly wide it is that this was a preventable clang and this should never, ever person occurred," Mr Clifford said.

"There person been discussions for immoderate clip astir the congestion associated with that and the imaginable for disaster. And we saw it travel location past night," helium added.

This is simply a breaking quality story. Follow america connected Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook oregon sojourn The Mirror homepage.