Air traffic control staffing was \u201cnot normal\u201d at the time of a mid-air collision between a military helicopter and passenger plane in Washington, DC that killed 67 people, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has acknowledged.<\/p>\n
US media reported that Reagan National Airport tower was understaffed during Wednesday\u2019s crash, according to a government report.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at their word that it wasn\u2019t normal,\u201d Duffy said when asked about reports during the FOX News Sunday programme.<\/p>\n
So far, 55 victims have been recovered from the Potomac River, with divers continuing to search for 12 more.<\/p>\n
There were 64 passengers aboard the American Airlines flight when it collided mid-air with an army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers as crew. There were no survivors.<\/p>\n
At the time of the crash, one air traffic control worker was managing helicopters and some planes from the airport, a job normally done by two people, two sources told CBS News, the BBC\u2019s US news partner.<\/p>\n
Duffy said \u201cthat was part of the review process that we have to do\u201d.<\/p>\n
He explained there was a \u201cconsolidation of air traffic controllers an hour before it was supposed to happen during the time of this crash. And so was, what was the appropriateness of that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy raised questions about whether controllers did \u201cappropriately direct traffic, consistent with procedures at the FAA\u201d, as well as the elevation of the helicopter.<\/p>\n
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Board Member Todd Inman said preliminary data revealed the helicopter was flying at about 200ft (60m), CBS reported. The flight ceiling for helicopters in the area near Reagan National Airport is 200ft.<\/p>\n
Duffy also questioned the timing of its flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would they fly a mission at nine o\u2019clock at night through really busy air space\u2026 as opposed to flying that mission at one o\u2019clock in the morning, when there\u2019s very little traffic\u201d? he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want our military to be trained up and ready to go, but I also want air travellers to be safe as well, and there\u2019s a time and a place to do it, not at nine o\u2019clock at night when there\u2019s heavy traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators are considering a number of factors, including height, in determining the cause of the crash, but have not yet made any public conclusions, NTSB officials said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Military officials told a news conference on Sunday said the helicopter crew was based in DC, where they flew daily missions to support senior army leadership and other government leaders.<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s flight was a training mission required annually for recertification, led by two experienced pilots who had flown in the local area many times before, officials said.<\/p>\n
Duffy said the US has a chronic understaffing problem in air traffic control.<\/p>\n
US media has reported that more than 90% of air traffic control facilities in the country are operating below FAA recommended staffing levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t had enough air traffic controllers in America for a very long time,\u201d Duffy said, adding \u201cthey are stressed out. They\u2019re tapped out. They\u2019re overworked. That\u2019s no excuse. It\u2019s just a reality of what we have in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new transportation secretary said he was working with the FAA to train new air traffic controllers and \u201chas a plan that\u2019s going to come out to fix the problem, but the issue is you can\u2019t flip a switch and get air traffic controllers here tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
As officials investigate the cause of the crash, recovery operations continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe we\u2019re going to be able to recover all of the victims, but we don\u2019t know where they are at this point,\u201d DC fire chief John Donnelly said.<\/p>\n
At first light on Monday morning, the Army will begin to lift the wreckage, pausing if they recover any remains, Col Francis Pera said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUniting those lost in this tragic incident is really what keeps us going,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
During the operation on Sunday, a DC police diver was taken to hospital with hypothermia, but recovered.<\/p>\n
On Sunday morning, dozens of family members of the victims gathered at the scene of the crash.<\/p>\n
They arrived in chartered buses with a police escort, first travelling to the crash scene and then on to a runway where the flight was supposed to land.<\/p>\n
The fire chief said he was not at the event, but had met with families, who he said are \u201cgrieving\u201d with a \u201cwhole range of emotions\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are a strong group of families that are focused on getting their loved ones back,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Air traffic control staffing was \u201cnot normal\u201d at the time of a mid-air collision between a military helicopter and passenger plane in Washington, DC that killed 67 people, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has acknowledged. US media reported that Reagan National Airport tower was understaffed during Wednesday\u2019s crash, according to a government report. \u201cI\u2019ll take the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}