In progress
This is a study of the airspace design, civil-military coordination, and operational safety of National Capital Region with a focus on DCA.
Description
On the night of January 29, 2025, a PSA Airlines regional jet airplane descending to Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) collided in midair with a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60L helicopter transiting the Potomac River. Both aircraft were destroyed, killing all 60 passengers and 4 crew members on the airplane and the 3 crew members on the military helicopter. After a year-long investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a report analyzing the events leading up to the collision, identifying causal and contributing factors, and recommending a series of actions intended to prevent future accidents.
Informed by the NTSB investigation, consultations with other experts, and information made available by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Defense (DOD), and others involved in or affected by the coordination of airspace activities at DCA and the National Capital Region, an ad hoc study committee will review the:
• Historical and ongoing risks associated with DCA airspace design and usage, including historical incidents relevant to current protocols;
• Adequacy of coordination protocols between the FAA, DOD, and other entities involved in or affected by airspace coordination;
• Patterns of near-miss incidents involving military aircraft; and,
• Structural, cultural, or procedural barriers to risk identification and accountability.
Based on an initial review and assessment, the committee will issue a main report with feasible and appropriate key findings and recommendations in response to the tasks in the study charge. Following delivery of this report, the committee will continue to gather and analyze information to develop a supplemental report that addresses tasks in the study charge that could not be addressed in the interim report because of the time required to obtain, analyze, and assess critical data. Assuming the timely provision of needed data by FAA, DOT, DOD, and others, the committee will strive to issue its report addressing priority issues within approximately 6 months. Where more time is needed to address certain issues in the study charge, the committee will issue a supplemental report 3 to 6 months later.
Contributors
Committee
Chair
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Member
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflict of Interest: Wesley A. Olson
The conflict-of-interest policy of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (https://www.nationalacademies.org/conflicts-of-interest-policy) prohibits the appointment of an individual to a committee authoring a Consensus Study Report if the individual has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the task to be performed. An exception to this prohibition is permitted if the National Academies determines that the conflict is unavoidable and the conflict is publicly disclosed. A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.
Wesley A. Olson has a conflict of interest in relation to his service on the Committee for a Study of the Airspace Design, Civil-Military Coordination, and Operational Safety of the National Capital Region because his employer, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, receives non-competitive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration in support of the development of new technology for air traffic control, aircraft surveillance, and collision avoidance.
The National Academies has concluded that in order for the committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established, its membership must include at least one person who has current experience and expertise in airborne collision avoidance systems. As described in his biographical summary, Dr. Olson, as Lead of the Transportation Safety and Resilience Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, oversees and manages research programs involving detect and avoid systems, airspace risk assessment and encounter modeling, airspace integration, and advanced air traffic radar and surveillance development.
The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Dr. Olson is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established. The National Academies could not find another available individual with the equivalent current experience and expertise who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable.
The National Academies believes that Dr. Olson can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.
Sponsors
Department of Transportation
Staff
Thomas Menzies
Lead
Emanuel Robinson
Lead
Dylan Rebstock
Lead
Stephen Godwin
Timothy Marflak
Major units and sub-units
Transportation Research Board
Lead
Center for Advancing Science and Technology
Collaborator
Consensus and Advisory Studies Division
Lead
Aeronautics, Space, and Astronomy Program Area
Collaborator
Physical Sciences, Systems, and Infrastructure Program Area
Collaborator
Computing Research, Technologies, and Systems Program Area
Collaborator