OVERWORKED air traffic controllers issued eerie warnings of “catastrophic” crash risks months before an explosive mid-air massacre claimed 67 lives.

An American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk in Washington DC on Wednesday evening, and a disturbing report claims the controller at the time was doing the job of two people.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said an “elevation mistake” saw the US Army-operated helicopter flying into the pathway of the plane during a training exercise.

The plane shattered into three pieces and sank under the ice-cold river waters before 9 pm. No one survived the tragedy.

This is the deadliest US air crash since November 2001, when 260 people died after an American Airlines plane plunged into a Queens neighborhood.

Some of the victims include teenage ice skaters, world-class athletes, and a crew of seven outdoor-loving family men who were traveling for a hunting trip.

Hours after the crash, a damning report surfaced that lifted the lid on the chaos inside Reagan Airport’s control tower.

According to the internal report, staffing was “not normal” at the time of the crash, as the controller was doing the jobs of two people, The New York Times reported.

The controller desperately tried to navigate helicopters in the area while also directing plans that were landing and departing from the Washington DC runways.

When asked about the details of the crash, National Transporation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said they are looking at every possible element.

“As part of any investigation, we look at the human, the machine and the environment,” she said in a briefing.

“So we will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident. We will look at the helicopter. We will look at the environment in which they were operating in. That is standard in any part of our investigation.”

It’s no secret that controllers have been overworked for years. Many have been pushed to the brink with grueling hours, only to be punished for finally breaking under the pressure.

In 2023, it was revealed that a raft of controllers had been fired for being drunk, asleep, or high in the tower as the Federal Aviation Association struggled to find proper talent to fill the empty slots.

At the time, desperate controllers wrote the FAA for help and warned of imminent danger looming on the horizon.

“Controllers are making mistakes left and right. Fatigue is extreme,” one person wrote in a report seen by The New York Times.

“The margin for safety has eroded tenfold. Morale is rock bottom. I catch myself taking risks and shortcuts I normally would never take.”

In a now-disturbing comment, another person wrote, “Is it going to take people dying for something to move forward?”