Lawmakers still working to improve air traffic safety months after DCA plane crash

Lawmakers hold roundtable to discuss air traffic safety

Federal officials met with pilots and air traffic controllers in Virginia on Friday to figure out what needs to be done to increase air traffic safety in the DMV following January's deadly crash at Reagan National Airport.

WASHINGTON - Federal officials met with pilots and air traffic controllers in Virginia on Friday to figure out what needs to be done to increase air traffic safety in the DMV following January's deadly crash at Reagan National Airport.

What we know:

Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Don Beyer had meetings with air traffic officials to learn more about the crisis facing the industry—a shortage of approximately 3,600 air traffic controllers across the country. The meetings come nearly eight months after 67 people were killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River.

Also at the meeting on Friday was Matthew Collins, whose brother Christopher died in the crash.

"It's not all about my brother," Collins said. "Now, it's how do we honor 67 people, and how do we prevent something like this from ever happening again? And I'm not going away. We're not going away. We want to see change. You'll keep seeing us until that's happening."

By the numbers:

At DCA, air traffic controllers are feeling the shortage. In June, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association told FOX 5 that DCA was operating with 20 controllers, when there should be 30.

SUGGESTED: DCA air traffic controllers working six-day weeks due to staffing gap

In a review after January's deadly crash, the National Transportation Safety Board found that there were more than 15,000 near misses at DCA from October 2021 to December 2024.

What's Being Done:

In response to those numbers, new legislation was introduced in the summer. The Safe Operation of Shared Airspace Act would require military and federal agents to use the same navigational system that commercial flights use; keep the Federal Aviation Administration from issuing hiring freezes; and create an agency to coordinate flight patterns. 

Industry leaders say more needs to be done. Officials say they need more advanced navigational systems, better recruitment and training to fill the staffing gap and more federal funding.

What they're saying:

"Getting ahead of the curve is where we need to be right now," said Jack Potter, CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. "We've been playing catch-up for years, and we need to leapfrog where wer are today to make sure that what we design is going to accommodate the future."