In early 2025, aviation safety discussions centered on data, staffing, and technology. By the end of the first quarter, the conversation was about gaps—procedural, technological, or simply bureaucratic—that had allowed high-risk mixed traffic to continue in the nation’s capital region, and what it would take to close those gaps quickly.
Two fatal events, a little more than 48 hours apart, set the tone. On January 29, a U.S. Army rotorcraft operating without ADS-B Out during a routine check ride collided over the Potomac River with a PSA Airlines CRJ700 regional flight operating as American Airlines Flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA), killing all occupants on both aircraft. On January 31, Med Jets Flight 056, a Learjet 55 operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, crashed in the Castor Gardens neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, killing everyone on board and two people on the ground, and injuring many others.
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