Members of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Military and Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that they opened an investigation into the military’s use of airspace near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The investigation follows the January crash between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter that killed more than 60 people as it approached for a landing. It’s also happening as there is increased nervousness about flight safety, including from lawmakers.
The Republican chair of the subcommittee, Rep. William Timmons, and the Democratic ranking member, Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asking for a “member-level” briefing on the crash by April 1.
“As authorities continue to assess the circumstances of the incident, it will be critical to identify any contributing factors and ensure mitigation measures are implemented to enhance future airspace safety,” the lawmakers said in their letter.
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“DoD plays a critical role in managing and securing this airspace, with military aircraft frequently conducting operations in and around the National Capital Region,” they wrote, calling the airspace around the airport “one of the busiest and most sensitive airspaces in the country.”
The lawmakers are hoping to learn about “suspected failures in operational procedures” that caused the crash, “potential safety risk” in the region due to high amounts of air traffic and steps the Department of Defense is taking to prevent military operations from interfering with safe American air travel.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but already it has changed how some things operate. The Washington Post reported that following the crash, flights at DCA are now disrupted when President Donald Trump moves to and from the White House by helicopter.
On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board, which has been the leading agency investigating the crash, recommended a suspension of some helicopter flight safety patterns, saying that it caused an “an intolerable risk to aviation safety by increasing the chances of a midair collision.”
Since the crash, senators have expressed concern regarding the impact that recent layoffs to Federal Aviation Administration employees could have on safe air travel. Members of Congress also have been looking into ways to solve the air traffic controller shortage, including allowing air traffic controllers to work past age 56.
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Torrence Banks is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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