Day Before Potomac Crash, a Near-Miss

The day before the horrific crash over the Potomac in Washington, DC, Republic Airways Flight 4514 was approaching the same airport and had an eerily similar near-miss with a helicopter. As the flight came in for a landing at Reagan National (DCA) Tuesday, it was forced to abort after a helicopter "appeared near its flight path," per the Washington Post. The flight then made a second approach and landed safely. In addition to that incident, there were at least two other near-misses between passenger planes and helicopters since 2022, plus a near-miss between two helicopters, CNN reports:

• Two military helicopters got too close to each other near the airport in September 2022. The details of that incident are not clear.

• The following month, a passenger plane was descending into DCA when its collision avoidance system issued a "CLIMB NOW" alert due to traffic in the area. The plane aborted its landing, and landed safely on a subsequent approach. It was later determined the plane had come within 300 feet of a helicopter lifting off from a nearby hospital.
• In April 2024, a commercial passenger plane also experienced a collision avoidance system alert due to a helicopter about 300 feet below the plane, forcing the crew to take "evasive action." It landed safely after passing above the helicopter, and in a report, the pilot said air traffic control never warned it about the helicopter.

(The air traffic controller involved in Wednesday night's crash had two assignments, which the FAA says is abnormal.)