The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended that helicopter traffic be banned from a four-mile stretch over the Potomac River when flights are landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

The preliminary findings reveal a concerning history of near-miss incidents around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. On Mar. 11, 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report detailing the events leading up to the tragic mid-air collision occurred over the Potomac River near Washington,

Helicopters should be barred from a four-mile stretch over the Potomac River when flights are landing on Reagan National Airport’s Runway 33, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said as the NTSB unveiled “urgent safety recommendations” after the deadly mid-air collision in January.

The NTSB released a preliminary report on the DCA collision between a plane and helicopter in January while giving urgent recommendations to the FAA.

The release of the reports followed a news conference by NTSB officials who said Federal Aviation Administration procedures that governed the airspace near Reagan National Airport before the crash allowed for an “intolerable risk” that increased the chance of midair collisions,

More than a month after an American Airlines plane and a Black Hawk helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport (DCA), killing 67 people, officials with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are calling for immediate changes to helicopter routes around DCA because they said it poses “an intolerable risk to aviation safety.