Staffing on the air visitors management tower at Ronald Reagan Nationwide Airport was “not regular for the time of day and quantity of visitors,” in accordance with an inner preliminary Federal Aviation Administration security report in regards to the collision that was reviewed by The New York Instances.
The controller who was dealing with helicopters within the airport’s neighborhood Wednesday evening was additionally instructing planes that had been touchdown and departing from its runways. These jobs usually are assigned to 2 controllers, fairly than one.
This will increase the workload for the air visitors controller and might complicate the job. One purpose is that the controllers can use completely different radio frequencies to speak with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. Whereas the controller is speaking with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the 2 units of pilots might not be capable of hear one another.
Like a lot of the nation’s air visitors management services, the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for years. The tower there was practically a 3rd under focused employees ranges, with 19 absolutely licensed controllers as of September 2023, in accordance with the newest Air Visitors Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report back to Congress that accommodates goal and precise staffing ranges. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union name for 30.
The scarcity — attributable to years of worker turnover and tight budgets, amongst different components — has pressured many controllers to work as much as six days per week and 10 hours a day.
The F.A.A. didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.