Public Session, May 21, National Academies
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and its TRB - Transportation Research Board - are convening three days of meetings for study of the January 29 2025 accident. The May 20 and 22 meetings are closed; May 21 open (agenda on the National Academies website).
Following is the content of the meeting announcement.
"Airspace Design, Civil-Military Coordination, and Operational Safety of National Capital Region with a focus on DCA.
On the night of January 29, 2025, a PSA Airlines regional jet airplane descending to Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) collided in midair with a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60L helicopter transiting the Potomac River. Both aircraft were destroyed, killing all 60 passengers and 4 crew members on the airplane and the 3 crew members on the military helicopter. After a year-long investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a report analyzing the events leading up to the collision, identifying causal and contributing factors, and recommending a series of actions intended to prevent future accidents.
Informed by the NTSB investigation, consultations with other experts, and information made available by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Defense (DOD), and others involved in or affected by the coordination of airspace activities at DCA and the National Capital Region, an ad hoc study committee will review the:
• Historical and ongoing risks associated with DCA airspace design and usage, including historical incidents relevant to current protocols;
• Adequacy of coordination protocols between the FAA, DOD, and other entities involved in or affected by airspace coordination;
• Patterns of near-miss incidents involving military aircraft; and,
• Structural, cultural, or procedural barriers to risk identification and accountability.
Based on an initial review and assessment, the committee will issue a main report with feasible and appropriate key findings and recommendations in response to the tasks in the study charge. Following delivery of this report, the committee will continue to gather and analyze information to develop a supplemental report that addresses tasks in the study charge that could not be addressed in the interim report because of the time required to obtain, analyze, and assess critical data. Assuming the timely provision of needed data by FAA, DOT, DOD, and others, the committee will strive to issue its report addressing priority issues within approximately 6 months. Where more time is needed to address certain issues in the study charge, the committee will issue a supplemental report 3 to 6 months later."