Sec. Duffy Responds to Reports of Aviation Near-Misses

This week, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy shared his concerns about the near misses that have occurred with airplanes this year.

This comes after a fatal mid-air collision between a commercial airliner and a military helicopter occurred in Washington, DC this year. As the American Airlines plane came in for landing, it collided with an Army helicopter. Both aircraft exploded and landed in the Potomac River. There were no survivors. Footage of the crash was captured by surveillance cameras.

HORROR: Webcam at the Kennedy Center catches explosion mid-air across the Potomac as D.C. helicopter and an inbound flight from Wichita, KS collide. Unknown number of people on board both aircraft. pic.twitter.com/yMnS28i7yX
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 30, 2025

“We saw near misses at DCA before the crash and no one did anything and that’s a problem,” he said. “We’re looking at these near misses and looking at these procedures and policies we can and will implement to make those airspaces safer.”

“I’m concerned. The FAA is concerned. The American people are concerned. So, what we’re doing is not ignoring it like the last administration. We’re actually looking at it and figuring out, ‘How do we navigate our airspace and make it safer?’...Near misses one day can lead to a devastating crash the next.”

Duffy was pressed about the specific incident that occurred this month where a Delta pilot had to inform passengers and apologize for an aggressive maneuver he made to avoid a potential mid-air collision with a B-52 bomber.

“There’s different issues in each of the incidents. We’re investigating. Was it something with air traffic control? Was it military? Was it civilian aircraft?... We have to do that investigation on each of them to figure out what the problem was to then craft the right solution…What’s key is, we’re not ignoring it,” Duffy added.