An air traffic supervisor at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport allowed one controller to leave work early Wednesday night, shortly before 67 people were killed in a midair collision between a commercial jet and a military helicopter near the nation’s capital.
The supervisor at the airport’s control tower left one person to handle both helicopter and plane traffic around one of the busiest runways in the country, according to multiple outlets.
Usually one controller advises helicopters flying in the area while the other talks with passenger jet pilots coming in and out of the airport, which sits along the western bank of the Potomac River.
Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CBS News it’s not uncommon for supervisors to have one controller manage two different traffic flows. He said control towers will often adjust the amount of flights they can handle depending on staffing.
The Federal Aviation Administration closed down helicopter airspace around the airport Friday as the search continues for the Army helicopter’s black box. Authorities are currently reviewing two black boxes recovered Thursday night from the doomed plane.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the worst domestic aviation incident in a generation, said it is looking to determine if the Army Black Hawk pilot was flying too high at the time of the crash.
SEE ALSO: ‘This is a warning’: Airport close calls a common occurrence as air traffic volume soars
Federal authorities are reviewing two black boxes recovered Thursday night from the wreckage of the American Airlines flight arriving from Wichita, Kansas.
“The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” President Trump posted Friday morning on Truth Social.
The New York Times reported the Army helicopter may have been higher than it was supposed to be and roughly a half mile off course when it collided with the plane.
As of Friday, D.C. Fire and EMS said 41 victims had been pulled from the watery wreckage. The remains of four additional victims are accounted for, but are still inside the plane, according to CNN.
Children as young as 11, union laborers and foreign nationals from the Philippines and China all died when the plane went down just before 9 p.m. Wednesday.
The collision is the deadliest domestic airplane accident since 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed into a neighborhood in Queens, New York, and killed 265 people.
SEE ALSO: Reagan National Airport has a long history of problems, challenges
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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