A CRUCIAL safety system was turned off on the military helicopter that smashed into an American Airlines passenger plane and killed 67 people last week, Senator Ted Cruz has said.
The Black Hawk had its automatic dependent surveillance broadcast turned off during the horrific midair collision, Cruz, the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said.
Cruz gave the update to reporters after a closed-door briefing by the National Transportation Safety Board.
He said it’s unclear why the helicopter turned off the key tech system, which helps aircraft determine its position.
“This was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off,” Cruz said, according to Reuters.
NTSB told The U.S. Sun they refuse to speculate on Cruz’s comment as the Black Hawk hasn’t been recovered from the wreckage in the Potomac River yet.
“More information will become available when most of the aircraft, including the helicopter, is recovered and examined. The recovery efforts are ongoing,” the agency said.
DCA CUTS ARRIVALS
Moments before Cruz made his bombshell claim, it was reported that the Federal Aviation Administration would crack down on air traffic after the tragedy.
Late on Wednesday night, the FAA told airlines that a maximum of 26 arrivals per hour could be scheduled for the Washington DC airport, according to an email seen by Reuters.
The airport previously allowed 28 planes to fly in every hour.
The cuts are expected to increase average delays from 40 minutes to nearly an hour.
The update comes as investigators from the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board “have expressed concern” for overworked air traffic controllers.
Aviation leaders hope the change will reduce crash risks and give workers in the airport towers “a little space for extra coordination.”
The investigation into the Washington DC crash is still underway, but the NTSB has confirmed the US-Army-operated Black Hawk was flying too high at the time of the crash.
According to FAA flight paths, the helicopter was only cleared to fly at a maximum of 200 feet, but it had risen to at least 300 feet just before the crash.
It is still unclear why the Black Hawk was in such a dangerous position, but it’s no secret that air traffic controllers have been overworked for years.
According to FAA records, the controller working the night of the crash was actually doing the job of two people.
‘UNDERSTAFFED’ TOWER
The internal report admitted that staffing was “not normal,” as the controller was responsible for navigating helicopters in the area and directing planes landing and departing from the runways.
Helicopters and planes use different radio frequencies, so two separate controllers normally perform these duties.
Reagan Airport has lacked a full staff of air traffic controllers for years.
According to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, as of September 2023, it employed only 19 instead of the 30-person target.
Other airports across the nation are suffering from the same issue, as the controller position requires brutally long hours and constant, life-saving decisions.
Washington DC plane crash victims
A mid-air collision between American Airlines flight 5342 and a military helicopter on January 29, 2025, left dozens presumed dead. The victims include:
- Captain Jonathan Campos, 34
- First Officer Samuel Lilley, 28
- Flight attendant Ian Epstein, 53
- Flight attendant Danasia Brown
- Spencer Lane, 16
- Christine Lane, 49
- Jinna Han, 13
- Jin Han
- Evgenia Shishkova, 52
- Vadim Naumov, 55
- Alexandr Kirsanov
- Angela Yang
- Sean Kay
- Peter Livingston
- Donna Smojice Livingston
- Everly Livingston, 14
- Alydia Livingston, 11
- Inna Volyanskaya
- Brielle Beyer, 12,
- Justyna Magdalena Beyer
- Olivia Eve Ter, 12
- Asra Hussain Raza, 26
- Michael Stovall, 40
- Jesse Pitcher, 30
- Elizabeth Anne Keys, 33
- Wendy Jo Shaffer
- Kiah Duggins
- Casey Crafton
- Lori Schrock, 56
- Robert Schrock, 58
- Vikesh Patel
- Grace Maxwell, 20
- Black Hawk Staff Sgt. Ryan O’Hara, 28
- Black Hawk Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39
Some controllers have been fired for working while high or showing up to the airport still drunk, as the stress takes a grueling emotional toll.
In 2023, a bombshell report revealed some now-disturbing warnings that controllers sent the FAA.
At the time, one person wrote, “Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme,” The New York Times reported.
“The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take.”
In another eerie comment, a different controller wrote, “Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has taken aim at diversity efforts reportedly imposed by the FAA.
The controversy has culminated in a class action lawsuit accusing the FAA of dodging talented controllers if they didn’t fit a specific ethnic profile.
HORROR CRASH
The American Airlines plane was headed to Washington DC from Wichita, Kansas, where an elite training camp at the US ice skating championships had just ended.
Victims of the horrific wreck include child ice skaters, a group of seven hunting buddies, and world-class athletes.
The January 29 collision is the deadliest US air crash since November 2001, when 260 people died after an American Airlines plane plunged into a New York City neighborhood.
After the dust settled, one top transportation official pointed the finger at lawmakers and said they’re responsible for creating more flights in and out of the capital.
Former House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio claimed elected officials ignored warnings from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that flights were at capacity.
I watched as DC rescue teams fought through torrential rain to find remains in icy waters
From Senior Reporter Israel Salas-Rodriguez in Washington DC:
A recovery mission is still underway just several feet behind me here at the Potomac River in the Nation’s capital.
Divers have continued to scour through the waters searching for victims.
The unfathomable incident occurred late Wednesday evening when an American Airlines flight carrying 64 passengers and crew members, which originated from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a Black Hawk Army helicopter as the commercial airliner was making its descent into Reagan National Airport.
The horrific caught on camera incident sent shockwaves across the country.
Footage captured the mid-air collision that lit up the DC sky as remnants of both aircraft’s plunged into the icy Potomac river, leaving no survivors.
First responders have been working tirelessly, around the clock, pulling bodies and debris from the aircraft’s from the frigid waters.
The U.S. Sun was at Reagan National Airport on Thursday an hour after the airport reopened at 11 am.
Several travelers, hauling luggages, spoke to us and described how the incident left them uneasy as they waited to board their flight.
One concerned man described how he and his sister have been texting overnight, nonstop since her American Airlines flight from Arkansas was rerouted to NY because of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation and are working on determining what caused the crash that killed all 67 people aboard the American Airlines flight and Army helicopter.
So far, at least 41 bodies have reportedly been recovered.
At least 14 of the passengers aboard the American Airlines flight were renowned icy skaters and hopeful Olympians, who were returning home from a national Figure Ice Skating tournament in Wichita.
The athletes were members of various icy rinks in the DMV area and Boston.
The U.S. Sun spoke to several mourns outside Ashburn Ice Center on Thursday evening, many of whom were still visibly shaken by the tragedy.
Former ice hockey coach at Ashburn Wellesley Shomo coached at the facility for 3 years and played on the ice for another 20 years.
A heavy-hearted Wellesley remembered some of the coaches that died in the crash as “good people who dedicate hours to their craft.”
A 15-year-old girl and her mom arrived at Ashburn Ice Center with flowers in hand minutes before the ice center was set to close for the night on Thursday.
The emotional teen, who fought back tears, told us that some of her friends died in the crash, saying, “This is our rink. I’ve been skating here since I was 3. I’m just trying not to cry.”
President Trump said he and his team have “strong opinions and ideas” about what happened, but vowed to conduct a speedy investigation.
“Every senator in particular wants a nonstop flight to and from wherever they live,” DeFazio told Politico on Friday.
Last year, the FAA added more flights to the Reagan National Airport, despite an outcry from airport staff, the former politician claimed.
“The airport said, ‘Don’t do it.’ And they did it,” he said.
“So they added to what DCA said is already an overly congested and over-capacity airport.”
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