WASHINGTON—The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on July 31 defended the staffing levels for air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when an Army helicopter collided with a commercial jet in January, while concerns were raised by an agency contractor at a hearing.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators probed that issue on Thursday, on the second day of their fact-finding hearing into the deadliest crash in American aviation since November 2001.
FAA Deputy Chief Operating Officer Nick Fuller told the NTSB that the control tower at Reagan National Airport was nearly fully staffed on Jan. 29, with 26 of 28 controller positions filled. As previous NTSB reports revealed, one controller was handling frequencies for both helicopters and airplanes at the same time on the night of the collision….