The National Transportation Safety Board, responsible for the investigation, has announced that it will need approximately 30 days to release a preliminary report. The final report, which will pinpoint a probable cause, is expected to take much longer to complete,” the board stated.
The union that represents air traffic controllers cautioned against assuming that the combined role would make conditions unsafe.
National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Nick Daniels emphasized the complexities of the task at hand, emphasizing how factors like weather changes, traffic flow variations, and modifications to airspace configurations can impact daily operations. He noted that it is not uncommon for positions to be restructured or even left vacant as a result.”
Staffing shortages at radar facilities have been an ongoing challenge for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The agency has been particularly strained due to lingering effects from the pandemic, forcing it to expedite the training and certification of additional air traffic controllers.
The Trump Administration has offered a separation package to federal workers, including air traffic controllers, which could cause further staffing shortages.
Officials warn against rush to judgment
Even as more information comes to light, some officials who have been briefed on the disaster say there’s still much we don’t know.
US Senator Tammy Duckworth, a former Black Hawk pilot, spoke to investigators with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board Thursday.
“I asked them to provide me with some more information – which they will – including the transcripts of the air traffic control instructions back to the pilots,” she told CNN.
The senator added that, despite the complexity of flying around Washington, DC, this seems to have started as a routine situation.
“I flew out of (Chicago) Midway Airport for over a dozen years where I did routinely fly underneath commercial airliners landing there at Midway Airport,” said Duckworth. “This is not an abnormal flight profile to be in, although it is a very congested airspace.”
