More Staff, Fewer Choppers: Safety Changes Coming To Washington's Busiest Airport

A timeline of the fatal DC plane crash

This is how events unfolded before the fatal plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

• The FAA is increasing support for air traffic controllers and evaluating arrival rates at Reagan National Airport after a January collision between a plane and a helicopter.
• Steps include increasing supervisor staffing, reviewing controller numbers, and assessing the concentration of arrivals in the last half hour of each hour.
• Arrival rates were temporarily reduced after the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it is taking steps to boost safety at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport outside of D.C. in response to January's collision between an American Airlines regional jet that was landing at the airport and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was transiting the airspace nearby.

"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is increasing support and oversight for the air traffic controller team at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The FAA is also evaluating current arrival rates at DCA," the agency said in a statement Wednesday. "To support the well-being of controllers, a Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team will visit DCA in early April, offering confidential support for staff following stressful events. The FAA will also conduct regular wellness checks at the facility."

The agency did not immediately clarify how frequently the wellness checks would occur or what they would entail.

The FAA said it is taking additional steps to boost safety and DCA, including:

• Increasing Operational Supervisor staffing from six to eight
• Reviewing Certified Professional Controller staffing numbers at DCA
• Reviewing DCA’s arrival rate of aircraft per hour, which is disproportionately concentrated within the last 30 minutes of each hour

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy directed the FAA to permanently close the helicopter route that the Black Hawk was utilizing at the time of the crash, except in very limited circumstances. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, the arrivals rate at DCA was temporarily reduced.

The National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the accident continues, but its preliminary report did not suggest that air traffic control tower staffing played a major role in the incident.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.