According to an internal preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the number of staff members working in the air control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”
On Wednesday night, an American Airlines plane collided with an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people on board.
A report obtained by the Associated Press revealed that one air traffic controller was working two positions at the time of the crash.
Typically, the two assignments are shared by two air traffic controllers.
The position configuration was abnormal for the time of day and traffic volume,” the report states.
Despite the report that staffing was “not normal,” a person familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that staffing in the DCA control tower on Wednesday night was normal.
The person explained that the positions are frequently combined when air controllers need to take breaks or change shifts. Controllers may also be required to step away when air traffic is slow, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.
Supervisors can combine roles, as was the case on Wednesday night, but the person familiar with the situation could not explain why. When asked about the air traffic, which had previously been reported to be heavy on Wednesday night, the source said it was moderate.
Reagan National’s air control tower has been understaffed for years, and as of September 2023, there are 19 fully certified controllers. However, the FAA and the controllers’ union have set a staffing target of 30.
The FAA’s air traffic controller shortage is not new at Reagan National or the majority of the country’s air traffic control facilities.
Last year, Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle appeared on FOX Business Network’s “The Claman Countdown” and warned that shortages could cause problems during the summer season if not addressed.
Biffle explained that, while technology could help address the problem while increasing air travel efficiencies in the long run, the air traffic controller shortage contributes to delays and cancellations.
“There are opportunities to improve the technology that serves as the backbone of air traffic control,” Biffle explained. “If you look at Europe, for example, there are some opportunities that we could implement here that would be much more efficient — you would use a lot less fuel, get there faster, and so on. That is a huge opportunity.”
“At the same time, it does not change the fact that I believe we are currently short 3,000 controllers. And so when you have a weather event, it just adds to the delays,” he said. “And, as we have seen in the last few days, those delays eventually turn into cancellations as crews time out, etc. [I] would really like to see the staffing issue resolved. The technology is probably a longer-term solution.
The FAA’s National Airspace System (NAS) safety review team, formed in April 2023 in response to several close runway incursions during takeoffs or landings at congested airports, determined that year that the combination of several challenges, including an air traffic control staffing shortage, insufficient funding, and outdated technology, “results in an erosion of safety margins that must be urgently addressed.”
“The current erosion in the margin of safety in the NAS caused by the confluence of these challenges is rendering the current level of safety unsustainable,” according to the team’s report.
The shortage has been attributed to employee turnover and other factors such as tight budgets, and as a result, many controllers are working 10-hour days and up to six days a week, according to the New York Times.
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