Watch: Investigators say deadly midair collision near DC followed years of ignored warnings about traffic

By GARY FIELDS, JOSH FUNK and ED WHITE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — National Transportation Safety Board members were deeply troubled Tuesday over years of ignored warnings about helicopter traffic dangers and other problems, long before an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk collided a year ago, killing 67 people near Washington, D.C.

The placement of a helicopter route in the approach path of Reagan National Airport’s secondary runway created a dangerous airspace and a lack of regular safety risk reviews made it worse, the board said. That was a key factor in the crash along with air traffic controllers’ over reliance on asking helicopter pilots to avoid other aircraft.

Throughout the daylong hearing, investigators emphasized the history of missed opportunities to address the risks. Those include the Federal Aviation Administration denying a 2023 request by a regional supervisor to reduce air traffic at Reagan and the failures to relocate the helicopter route or warn pilots more about the dangers after an eerily similar near miss in 2013.

NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy made no apology for her occasionally stern tone.

“We should be angry. This was 100% preventa...