Army investigators have concluded that problems with military training and helicopter technology contributed to a midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet that killed 67 people last year.
The internal report, copies of which were provided to reporters by relatives of crash victims Thursday, included recommendations to improve deficiencies that investigators said played a role in the January 2025 incident near Ronald Reagan National Airport, which is just outside of Washington. The episode prompted federal investigations and a national debate about aviation safety.
Like the National Transportation Safety Board, the independent federal agency that investigates aviation accidents, Army investigators found that the helicopter’s location-broadcasting technology had not been functioning properly on the night of the incident. They also concluded that officials had known that the helicopter’s altitude gauges could give faulty readings.
They recommended technology upgrades and urged that certain military aircraft be required to turn on location-broadcasting software while operating flights through the Washington area, “except when supporting an actual national security contingency.” They did not specify what constituted such an occurrence.
Safety advocates, lawmakers and the families of victims have been calling for stricter laws to prevent collisions between military aircraft and commercial flights around the busiest U.S. airports. Army investigators suggested in their report that the military was capable of self-regulating, and did not need new laws.
“Aircraft should be able to see each other in the sky,” Families of Flight 5342, a group formed among the relatives of those who died in the crash, said in a statement. “The technology is proven. All that’s required is the political will to do the right thing.”
The group added: “There is nothing left for Congress to wait for.”
The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The pilots operating the Army Black Hawk involved in the collision were flying a national security training mission the night of the accident. Since then, the Federal Aviation Administration has changed the route the Army helicopter had been flying along near Reagan National and limited helicopter activity in the area to only critical emergency or military missions, such as transporting the president.
Lawmakers are currently debating whether such restrictions should be codified, as part of legislation to mandate the use of advanced technology.
The Army’s report agreed with N.T.S.B. recommendations urging leaders to create a database for reporting and analyzing incidents, to better understand the risks of flying through dense, complex airspace, and to offer more training to pilots operating flights in those areas.
But it differs from the N.T.S.B. on whether its own pilots might have erred on the night of the accident.
The N.T.S.B. determined that the helicopter pilots likely made a mistake when asking air traffic controllers at Reagan National for permission to fly through the area relying on their own ability to see and avoid obstacles. Army investigators, however, did not find evidence that the helicopter crew ignored any information.
Rather, they blamed the air traffic controller for insufficiently warning the pilots that they were on a collision course.
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