In Years Before Deadly D.C. Plane Crash, There Were Over 15K Near-Misses at Airport: NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board has released their preliminary report into the deadly January midair collision between an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C.

Though the cause of the deadly Jan. 29 crash that killed 67 people remains undetermined as the National Transportation Board continues its fact-finding mission, in the preliminary report, released on Tuesday, March 11, investigators shared that there had been tens of thousands of near-misses at the airport in recent years.

According to the report, between Oct. 2021 and Dec. 2024, there were 15,214 instances of planes being alerted about helicopters being in close proximity to their air space.

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In over half of these instances, the helicopters in question may have been above the route altitude restriction. Additionally, two-thirds of these events occurred at night.

Meanwhile, there were 85 cases where the aircrafts were separated by less than 1,500 feet and had a vertical separation of less than 200 feet.

As investigators previously shared, the NTSB's report stated there was a discrepancy in the helicopter's cockpit voice recorder. The pilot indicated they were at 300 feet while the instructor pilot they were at 400 feet. "Neither pilot made a comment discussing an altitude discrepancy," investigators said.

Eventually, the crash happened at an altitude just under 300 feet as the plane descended toward the helicopter. The helicopter was above its 200-foot limit at that location.

While the FAA began prohibiting helicopter flights around the D.C. airport, the NTSB has issued two "urgent safety recommendations "to the FAA concerning the helicopter routes near the busy airport.

The report does not share what those safety recommendations are, but, according to a Reuters reporter, they urge prohibiting operations on helicopter route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are being used for departures and arrivals, respectively, at the airport. They also urge Designate an alternative helicopter route that can be used to facilitate travel between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when that segment of route 4 is closed.

PEOPLE has reached out to the NTSB for additional comment.

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The disaster is the third deadliest commercial aviation disaster in the U.S. since 2001. Among the victims were children and teenagers, young professionals, parents, coaches, a group of friends, the flight crew and three soldiers.

Additionally, around a dozen of the passengers on the flight were returning from an elite ice skating training camp in Wichita, which just hosted the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

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Experts had said they suspect the crew of the helicopter made a catastrophic mistake, as they were warned by air traffic controllers of the plane and said they would avoid it.

"I guarantee it was basically pilot error," an active duty Army helicopter pilot who did not want to be identified, previously told PEOPLE.

The tragic crash came just days before a medical jet crashed in a Philadelphia neighborhood on Friday, Jan. 31, killing six onboard and one person in a car.

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