An American Eagle jet will leave Washington, D.C. for New York on Thursday afternoon, cutting its wings with another plane on the runway at Ronald Reagan National Airport. NBC News reports showed that one of the planes had at least seven members of Congress. No injuries were reported in the incident and both aircraft were able to return to the terminal for inspection, according to a statement issued by American Airlines to the BBC.
The two flights involved in ground collisions were American Eagle 5490 operated by PSA Airlines, to Charleston International Airport in South Carolina, and American Eagle 4522 operated by Republic Airlines, which traveled with members of Congress to Kennedy International Airport in New York. The wing of Flight 5490 hit Flight 4522 on the runway at around 12:45 pm local time.
According to American Airlines, there were 67 passengers on the flight to Charleston and 76 on the flight to New York. The latter include Democratic representatives Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Josh Gottheimer, Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres and Republican Nick Lalota, all of which were identified as on board. Meeks announced that a total of seven members of Congress were in the air.
It is not clear what caused the current collision, and the Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating. The Trump administration has insisted that the incident has nothing to do with the FAA staff cuts or shortages, especially with air traffic controllers. The White House’s “official quick response account” released: “There is no cut in air traffic controllers, safety personnel or critical positions.”
Gottheimer, a representative on the flight Democratic Party, said that “recent cuts to FAA have weakened our sky and public safety”, prompting the White House’s reply. The Trump administration did actually shoot air traffic controllers, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy admitted “less than 400.” The government does hire some of these people, but it still seems to be insufficient.
Just this week, Tim Arel, head of the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic organization, resigned after adopting the government’s voluntary retirement plan. Reuters reported that the FAA has about 3,500 air traffic controllers, far below the target staffing level.
It is worth noting that only two months ago, a fatal accident occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when a commercial airliner carrying 64 passengers collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter on the Potomac River. That was just one of many accidents and close calls that happened in the first few months of the Trump administration.
