Control tower reportedly understaffed during Washington crash

The controller on duty when the deadly aircraft collision happened in Washington, DC was doing a job usually handled by two, US media reported yesterday.

This was according to an internal report by the US Federal Aviation Administration on the incident which left 67 dead.

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was “not normal” during the late-night crash between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter, The New York Times quoted a preliminary report as saying.

The controller, who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity on Wednesday night, was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways - jobs typically assigned to two different controllers.

At a press conference in the White House earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump said there were some warnings before the midair collision “but the warnings were given very, very late”.

Trump stated he heard “very scary tapes”, mentioning an air traffic controller who asked, “Do you see him?”

He noted there was “very little time left” when that was said and added that there was also “a pilot problem” regarding the helicopter.

Also at the press conference, Trump confirmed there were no survivors in the collision, and “the work has now shifted to a recovery mission”.

John Donnelly, chief of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, told a press conference at the airport on Thursday morning that 28 bodies were found, including 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter.

- Bernama

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