From a Learjet 55 carrying a young girl home to Mexico which crashed after takeoff in Philadelphia, to an Army Blackhawk helicopter colliding mid-air with an American Airlines jet over D.C. - it has been the deadliest week in U.S. aviation since 2001.

Washington

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC.

D.C. Crash

The recent incidents in U.S. aviation have marked the deadliest period since November 2001. Notable among them was a Learjet 55 crash soon after taking off from Philadelphia, resulting in a tragedy involving five onboard fatalities and one casualty on the ground. The small medical jet was returning a young girl, after receiving treatment at Shriners Hospital, to her home in Mexico when it descended steeply and collided with a bustling section of the city, causing destruction to vehicles and igniting fires in buildings.

Furthermore, a separate mid-air collision involved an Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., resulting in 67 deaths. The helicopter was reported to be at a higher altitude than permitted, and it remains uncertain whether the air traffic controller had accurate altitude data at that crucial moment. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is actively investigating the incident, with questions surrounding the sufficiency of air traffic control staffing levels and potential misidentifications of aircraft.

This tragic sequence of events has raised safety concerns among the U.S. public. However, experts, including former acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolan, assert that flying remains safe. They emphasize the resilience and robustness of the aviation system, with 13 billion passengers flying successfully over a span of 16 years. As investigations continue, there's a collective drive to comprehend these incidents and prevent future occurrences.



Deadliest week in U.S. aviation since 2001

We turn now to a terrible week for U.S. aviation, starting with Wednesday's crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter. Then, on to Friday's small plane crash in Philadelphia. Here's Chris Van Cleave. It came down like a missile. The blast breaking the silence of a Friday night. A small medical jet carrying a young girl who had just completed treatment at Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia and was heading home to Mexico when something went wrong right after takeoff. Two pilots, two doctors and a family member were also on board. At least one person on the ground was killed. It came out of the clouds going in a straight nosedive and the second it came through the clouds was probably only another second before it hit the ground. The Learjet 55 crashed into a busy section of the city, destroying cars and setting buildings ablaze. A horrifying end to the deadliest week in American aviation in decades. It's just scary to think like maybe flying isn't the best thing to do right now. Rattling an already shaken nation looking for answers in the wake of Wednesday's mid-air collision. An Army Black Hawk helicopter colliding with an American Airlines regional jet over the icy Potomac River in the nation's capital. 67 people died just feet from the runway. It appears to have happened about 325 feet up, higher than the helicopter was supposed to be. Investigators say they are working to understand if the controller had accurate information about the helicopter's altitude moments before the crash. On Wednesday night there were five people in Washington's Reagan National Tower. The controller handling helicopter traffic was doing a second job monitoring takeoffs and landings of some airliners. Nationally, 90% of air traffic control towers are commonly understaffed. Also, the chopper crew indicated they had the passenger plane in sight, but were they looking at a different plane? Todd Inman is leading the NTSB investigation. There is a real desire to get answers for these folks. This shouldn't happen. Unfortunately this is a tragedy, but from this we will learn. It's one of the reasons why it's been so long since we've had another accident. A week that brought an unparalleled period of aviation safety in the United States to an end leaves an important question. One we put to former acting FAA administrator Billy Nolan. Are we less safe getting on an airplane today than we were a week ago? We are not. Our system is designed around robustness and resilience. In the past 16 years, 13 plus billion people have gotten on flights. That's almost twice the population of the planet. You only do that if you've got a system that's safe. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

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D.C. Crash