Air travel is very often seen as one of the safest modes of transportation, but when disasters occur, they serve as a reminder of the many risks involved. In the span of just a few days, two devastating plane crashes left many Americans shocked. These two tragic incidents, which took place in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., took dozens of lives and left investigators searching for answers.
On January 29, the first of the two plane crashes happened in D.C., as American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, resulting in a crash that left no survivors among the approximately 60 passengers on board. The flight departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was en route to D.C.’s Reagan National Airport. The helicopter involved was reported to be flying about 200 ft higher than it should have been at the time of the crash. This collision was the first major U.S. commercial air crash in the United States in approximately 15 years since February 2009.
According to CBS News, we currently know that only one air traffic control worker was managing the helicopters and planes from the Reagan National Airport at the time of the collision, a job that is normally meant to be done by two people. In an interview with CBS News, Robert Sumwalt, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said authorities are still investigating whether the insufficient staffing played a role in the collision. However, a shortage in staffing of air traffic control towers is not uncommon. Around 90 percent, or approximately 285 out of the 313, air traffic control facilities around the country have been operating below the recommended staffing level for years, and in an interview with CNN News, an air tower controller in Northern California claims that employees are forced to “6-day work weeks working overtime every week.”
While investigators continued to examine the role of the exact reasons for the D.C. crash and while families grieved, another tragedy unfolded just two days later in Philadelphia, taking more lives and deepening the concerns about aviation safety for our country.
The plane that crashed on January 31, a Learjet 55, was a medical jet transporting a pediatric patient who was later identified to be 11-year-old Valentina Guzman Murillo. The plane was carrying six passengers, including some of Valentina’s family and doctors, all of whom died in the crash. Additionally, several people on the ground received injuries from falling debris, amounting to around at least 25 people injured.
The plane was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, with its final destination being in Mexico. It took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at around 6 p.m. on that Friday and was said to have climbed about 1500 ft in the air, only less than a minute before it started rapidly descending and eventually crashed.
Although the cause of this crash has not yet been confirmed, investigations are still ongoing to determine the reasons, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s interview with NBC News. “We have agreed to be as transparent as possible with information as it comes out,” he says.
The two tragic plane crashes have left many people grieving and are raising serious questions about the safety of aviation. As investigations continue, officials and the public are both seeking answers to prevent similar disasters in the future. Whether the reason is staff shortages, mechanical failures, or other factors, these tragedies serve as a reminder of the importance of safety measures in air travel.
