# FAA 'permanently restricting' Washington helicopter traffic after fatal midair collision near DC airport

Agency 'taking steps' to improve air safety around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

  
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Published March 14, 2025 8:32pm EDT



National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said there were a number of potential errors that led to the Jan. 29 crash. (Pool)



After the directive, the FAA announced in a statement Friday it is "taking a series of steps" to improve safety near  after a deadly Jan. 29 midair collision between a commercial plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River that killed 67 people.

The new guidelines come after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended the closure of a  near DCA Tuesday.

NTSB Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the location of helicopter Route 4 and the final approach path to DCA runway 33 was an "intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chance of a midair collision."



A U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter. (Patryk Ogorzalek/Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters, File)





Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Tuesday said the temporary ban on helicopters near the airport would continue.

"How did the FAA not know?" Duffy asked about the flow of helicopters near the airport.

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

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