The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday recommended the closure of a helicopter route near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when some of its runways are in use following January’s midair collision that killed dozens of people when a plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. 

NTSB Board Chair Jennifer Homendy called the location of helicopter Route 4 and the final approach path to DCA runway 33 “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chance of a midair collision.”

Wreckage is seen in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 30, 2025. The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended the closure of a helicopter route near the airport when one of its runways is in use. (Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles/U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

The agency recommended that helicopter operations be prohibited on Route 4 between Hains Point and Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are in use and to designate an alternative helicopter route when Route 4 is closed. 

The Black Hawk may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, investigators said.

The collision likely occurred at an altitude of nearly 300 feet as the plane descended toward the helicopter, which was well above its 200-foot limit for that location, the Associated Press reported.

An FBI agent carries debris the day after American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on the night of Jan. 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The Army has said the Black Hawk crew was highly experienced and accustomed to the crowded skies around the nation’s capital.